


Over the Obstacles (the title will be changed)

by Cajdachan



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Atmospheric, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Feelings, Fluff and Smut, Grand Prix, Horses, Human AU, Occasionally strong language, Pearlapis, Phobias, Romance, detailed story, equestrian enviroment, horse rider Lapis, lapearl - Freeform, letting go of old crush, past one-sided Pearl/Rose, phobia overcoming, pre-competition stress, show jumping, slight religion, sport au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2018-12-05 03:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 139,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cajdachan/pseuds/Cajdachan
Summary: • Lapis is a professional horse rider focused on show jumping. One day she meets Pearl who is completely terrified of horses, but the longer they know each other, the stronger their love becomes and Pearl's fear slowly starts to vanish.•Human AU





	1. Rising Star

**Author's Note:**

> • Thanks to you, guys, I decided to write another fanfiction, but this one will actually have "a bit" longer story than the others. It's a relaxing reading, no big drama, there's fluff and a bit of smut. :3 I'd be so pleased with any feedback from you, guys. Feel free to leave a like or comment; your support means a lot to me!
> 
> • **PS:** English is not my native language; please be considerate. :O If you find any unbearable grammar mistake(s), please tell me, I'll fix it right away! ;) I'm also continuously checking on older chapters; updating and fixing them. ;)
> 
> • **Wish you good reading!**

   “Come on, girl. One last fence.” Lapis whispered aloud, holding the reins firmly. She gently pulled her right hand against her body, causing the horse turning to the right side, towards the last obstacle. At a reasonably fast pace, the mare approached the double oxer, the last combination of the jumping course. With great time and no penalties Lapis couldn't afford making any mistakes. From an absolute victory she shared only a few meters, a few moments.

   There was complete silence in the hall and Lapis lost her breath. Her heart was beating so wildly that she felt like every present audience could feel her nervousness, see her shaking jaw and her trembling hands. The only thing that was calming Lapis down was clattering of her horse’s hooves which the damp sandy surface was absorbing.

   The girl especially cared to correctly calculate how many steps were needed to reach the optimal distance from the obstacle and to overcome it without any mistake. Slowly, and quickly at the same time, they were approaching the fence, there was no escape now.

   It's time. Lapis clenched her teeth, blue veins appeared on her temples, the veins of maximum concentration. She stared straight ahead, concentrating on the double oxer that was dividing her from victory. Once she was at ideal distance, she released the reins, squeezed the horse's sides and stood into stirrups. She leaned forward against the back of her horse's neck, then pressed her arms against her chest with the reins she was holding. The mare bounced off of the ground with her hind legs, and then she and Lapis were suddenly in the air, just above the obstacle.

   It was all about seconds, millimeters, accuracy. For a moment, Lapis never thought that only a few moments could last that long. She felt drops of cold sweat rolling down her forehead, she felt her palms completely wet in her riding gloves as she was tightly holding the leather reins.

   Lapis closed her eyes. They had been hanging above the obstacle for too long now. Now was the perfect time for landing safely and faultlessly on solid ground. Now it was all just about luck.

   In the middle of an infinite, unpleasant silence, Lapis suddenly heard quiet tap of a hoof softly brushing against a wooden rail. The vibration of it moved from the hoof straight to Lapis’ foot.

   ‘ _No_!’ Suddenly, an adrenaline flooded her. She felt a great wave of sweat that washed her as she started to be afraid of hearing a disappointed  _ooh_  in a short time. But it did not happen. The mare landed with her front legs, safely and almost without an impact, on the ground, and with that it was followed by her rear legs. Lapis spurred the horse for the last time and ran straight to the finish line.

   Suddenly, a loud cheer could be heard from the tribune, followed by almost deafening clapping and whistling.

   In a few brief moments, Lapis with her horse cantered round the whole circuit of the arena, and then she let the horse go to trot. She quickly glanced over at the scoreboard which was above the entrance to the arena. Her time was incredible and zero in the penalization box added the result even more to beauty. Her final score eventually got her first place in an overall ranking with time 41.20.

   She was really happy on the inside, and a beautiful, frank smile appeared on her face. She stood into stirrups, grinning. She enjoyed the noise and celebrated the joy with all the people whose hands never stopped clapping. Lapis waved and triumphantly brandished her fist in the air as her horse kept trotting.

   “We did it, Blue!” She reached out to the mare and patted her strong neck several times. “We kicked their butts!”

   While the equestrian and her horse were trotting round the hall, the words were taken up by an enthusiastic commentator who actively portrayed what a pleasant performance and magnificent finale by young Lapis Lazuli with her five years old mare was shown on today's show jumping jump-off. As the audience began to rise from the seats, the commentator didn’t forget to bid the World Cup finale visitors to not miss the winner announcement and award ceremony.

<•••>

   “Finally! Time to go home.” A girl with light purple mane exulted, though rather ironically, pounding deeper into her seat. Two girls, one with dark skin and the other with pale one, sitting on her right side, looked at her.

   “Not quite." A woman with dark curly afro proclaimed with a monotone voice.

   "Ach, come on, Garnet. This is garbage… I don't wanna sit here another half an hour." The girl rolled her eyes, sighing through her round nose. "Let's go home."

   "We voted, Amethyst. Would you rather go to women's football?” Garnet chuckled to herself.

   “Pff.” The pudgy girl hissed instead of a reply. “… I still don’t understand why I bent it. Me, who has absolutely no relationship with animals, then Pearl who is scared shit out of horses and you, Garnet?”

   The pale-skinned girl straightened and cleared her throat softly, grasping the edges of her seat in her hands. “From a reasonable distance they don’t seem that… scary.” She said, but so quietly that it was more like she was talkng to herself.

   “Well, then we'll leave the program for next Thursday to you, Amethyst.” Garnet leaned forward to see the girl sitting next to Pearl.

   “Great.” She sighed with a relief, threw her leg over the other and crossed her arms. Garnet leaned back against her seat and brushed her eyebrows. She wondered if she should go and buy herself something to drink – her throat somehow became dry.

   Pearl squeezed her hands between her knees and with interest she watched the blue-haired rider as she was joyfully trotting with her horse round the hall. She smiled as she caught a sign of her freckled cheeks shining with happiness.

   She watched her for a bit. She watched every little detail, every hand wave and every blink of her eyes. She scanned each of her graceful movements, watched as each strand of her cyan hair fluttered in the wind, as her hair locks which were protruding out of her helmet were nicely lining her jaw.

   “Hey, P.” Pearl heard from her left side, but ignored it. She was still staring at the horse and its rider.

   Her palms started to sweat, her cheeks were slowly becoming hot as she was gazing at young Ms. Lazuli who was just passing the tribune where Pearl and her two friends were sitting. As the horse passed them, a light breeze of sweet spring perfume flooded them. Pearl lost her breath. She froze.

   “Pearl!” Amethyst yelled. Poor confused Pearl turned to her, her hands started to tremble.

   “What's wrong?” She bit her pale lip.

   Amethyst rolled her dark eyes. “You mean what's wrong with  _you_.” She furrowed her eyebrows and leaned forward, elbows on her knees.

   “Nothing… n-Nothing’s wrong…” She swallowed nervously, flushed.

   “Dude, you're blushing! And you’re telling me that nothing’s wrong?” She pointed at Pearl's cheeks, but Pearl was currently trying her best to avoid Amethyst's eyes. The slim girl glanced back towards the riding hall – at Lapis. She didn’t want to, but at the same time she longed for their eyes to meet, yet she was certain that it was for ninety-nine and nine tenths percent impossible.

   Amethyst sighed again and looked at the same direction where Pearl was looking, perhaps to find out why she was acting that way – then realized. “… Oooh.” She raised her brows in astonishment, apparently understanding the reason of Pearl’s behavior. “I didn’t know you were into blueberries.”

   Pearl’s eyes widened in surprise. She turned to her friend as quickly as physically possible, unable to stop the redness from spreading. “Amethyst!” She hissed through her teeth.

   “I caught you, P! Admit it!” She said triumphantly, folding her hands behind her head.

   “Pff! And what should I admit?” She tried to hide her red cheeks, biting her thin lip again.

   “Come on, P.” Her friend put her hand onto Pearl’s shoulder, giving it gentle squeeze. “You’re red like a radish. Say you like her.”

   “What-no!” She barked in defense.

   “You won’t admit or you don’t like her?” She raised her eyebrows teasingly.

   “Hey, you two.” Garnet said abruptly. “Enough.”

<•••>

   Lapis and her horse headed to the warm-up arena while the audience’s clapping slowly began vanishing. They walked through a short corridor, then entered the training arena where coaches and riders with their horses were. There were also waiting two members of Lapis' family, aunt Agate and Lapis' younger sister Pearl whom Lapis and the rest of her family's been calling Deedee.

   Lapis smiled to herself, seeing their beaming faces. Gazing at her sister, she squeezed the pommel of her saddle, then pulled both of her feet out of stirrups and dismounted her horse. Her younger sister ran straight to her while Lapis was offering her arms to her.

   “You did it!“ Deedee smiled widely and hugged her. Eventually aunt Agate approached them and joined the group hug.

   “Congratulations, sweetheart. You did it!” She squeezed her niece tightly so they almost couldn’t breathe. “Your mother would be so proud of you.”

   Lapis' smile then almost all disappeared after mentioning her mom. “… Yeah.” She whispered, half-strangled by her aunt’s squeeze, but she didn’t care about that at the moment. Suddenly she froze.

   She remembered her. She remembered the last day she saw her mother, her tearful face, though she was warmly smiling. She recalled the words she said to them – to her daughters. She remembered the number of her hospital door's room, when she and Deedee brought her mother a great bunch of beautiful flowers along with pictures of them and their mother's favorite horses from their stable, she remembered how her younger sister used to sing to her when they were sitting next to her bed. It was almost six years ago, but still it was really hard for Lapis to deal with the fact that she, her sister and nobody else, will never see her again. ‘… _Ever_.’

   Hot salty tears started welling up in her ocean-blue eyes, but fortunately, no one noticed them so far. She knew that she should be happy – she just won the World Cup! She shouldn’t by crying about her mother right now.

   “–Lapis?” Deedee gently raised sister’s chin with her slender fingers. She knew that something was wrong, she always knew. She recognized the look on Lapis' face.

   She softly dried Lapis' cheeks as a few tears rolled down. “What is it?”

   Lapis sniffed quietly, taking her sister’s hand that was cupping her cheek and held it there. “I wish mom was here.” She admitted, looking into her eyes.

   “Oh, Lapis…” Deedee sighed, giving Lapis a tiny, empathic smile, then stroked her cheek with her thumb. “She is…”

   “Yeah, I bet she’s somewhere near us and watching you.” Aunt Agate added, hugging her niece tightly again.

   Lapis smiled. She was really glad that these two were here with her at that moment. She wiped her eyes and stepped back. She fixed her riding jacket and cleared her throat, looking at her younger, though a bit taller sister. Suddenly Lapis noticed a different shade of blue on Deedee's hair, and also her roots showed tiny marks of her natural hair color.  “You should redye it again.” Lapis grinned faintly.

   Deedee shifted her long fringe a little upper, looking at its color so she could consider Lapis' judgment. A beautiful turquoise eye flashed from under her fringe. She always had her eyes hidden deep under her bangs, they were almost impossible seeing, however, if someone sees them, it's probably their lucky day.

   “True.” She whispered with a smile. “It's not like it used to be.”

   Pearl’s voice was one of the prettiest voices that Lapis has ever heard in her life. She sang the most beautiful songs with the sweetest voice that could someone hardly just imagine. Once she used to sing in a choir in local church near their house, but one day everything changed. After the loss of their mother, Deedee’s voice broke. She stopped singing, she stopped dancing, she stopped smiling and laughing, and since that day her voice is nothing more than a whisper. Hearing Deedee sing is very rare. Sometimes Lapis hears her crooning something to herself, however, that doesn't happen very often.

   The older sister smirked, but then she could suddenly hear quick downy steps. A loud, raspy voice came from behind her back and a strong hand gripped her shoulder. Lapis turned around.

   “Lapis! I knew you could do it! You both were awesome!” A middle-aged man with long gray hair cheered.

   “Greg!” Lapis chuckled, hugging him. “We wouldn’t do that without your help.”

   “Oh, come on.” His cheeks flushed at the compliment. “Talent is in rider, not in coach.”

   All of a sudden, a young mare leaned her head over the man’s shoulder and loudly snorted right into his ear, as if she wanted to remark something. Greg jumped into the air in a surprise and glanced over at her as both sisters and aunt started to laugh.

   “And in a horse, of course.” He added, rubbing his nape. “Here, I brought a blanket, Blue should have it.“ He said and tossed the winner's blanket over the Hanover horse’s back, zipping the velcro. He then stood next to Blue, waving towards himself with a wide grin. “Come on now, Lapis. Don’t miss the winner’s round.” He said to the young rider and offered her his joined hands, imitating a stirrup. Lapis accepted the offer and mounted the horse again.

   “Thanks, coach.” She said and saluted with her riding helmet. She asked her horse to walk and headed back into the arena.

   “I'll see you later!” Greg waved, soon after joined by aunt and young Pearl. Lapis looked back and gave them all a grateful smile.

   Accompanied by clinking of horseshoes against the ground, Lapis and her horse walked through the dark corridor again. Lapis took a deep breath and stopped right in front of the entrance to the arena. She glanced over to see her family for the last time, but her aunt and younger sister were already gone. ‘ _Hmm… they probably headed to the tribune already_.’ She thought.

   It didn’t take long and once again there sounded a loud clapping and cheering as Lapis' name was mentioned on the radio. Lapis felt faint, pleasant tingling in her stomach, and though she knew that there was nothing to be afraid of, nervousness washed her. Yet she was happy. It was her first big race that she won.

   “Hya.” She squeezed both of her horse’s sides and asked her to gallop, then they ran straight into the arena. Lapis was immensely enjoying the applause echoing from all sides. She stood up into stirrups and joyfully waved her fist in the air. She had never seen so many people in the arena, so many fans, so many people who enjoyed the victory with her.

   There were organizers, managers and several other people standing in the middle of the arena and waiting for Lapis' and other competitors' arrival, holding colorful sashes, flowers and medals to hand over. Lapis and her horse walked directly to them and stopped in front of them in a reasonable distance. There were five more names mentioned on the radio, five riders who got first five places right after Lapis. All six riders, after arriving to the arena, congratulated each other and then stood next to each other in one row.

   First they headed to the young blue-eyed rider, shaking her hand, and pinning a beautiful, blue-gold medal on her horse's blanket. They didn’t forget to devote Lapis a bunch of flowers that perfectly complemented the medallion on the left side of her Hanover horse.

   The managers congratulated the other riders and invited them to follow the winner in the winner's round along the arena.

   Lapis enjoyed the whole ceremony, she was almost weeping. She stroked and patted her horse’s neck, praising her and hugging her. This was the most beautiful thing that happened to her in her life. This was actually the first time she wanted time to stop, although she was longing for having a cold shower and a great, peaceful sleep after all day long.

<•••>

   Darkness covered the whole city. People disappeared into the night after the end of today's show jumping finale. Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst headed to Pearl's old pickup to get themselves home. Pearl sat onto the driver's seat and safely delivered all of them to their houses. In the car, they chatted about what happened today, saying that today's big day was over and looking forward to the next together Thursday.

   Pearl laid onto her sofa, since she didn't have a bed in her apartment, slowly pulling the blanket up to her chin. She sighed deeply. She stared at the ceiling, illuminated by street lights. She was thinking about everything that happened today. There were thousands of thoughts in her head. She thought of every word she heard, every car that honked, recalling how many red lights at all the crossroads she counted, how often she had to fix her right sock that was slipped off of her leg every so often, how many times Amethyst said the word  _dude_ or how often Garnet rubbed her eyebrows. She wondered if she will ever see the charming smile of the young girl who won the show jumping World Cup today.

   Everything was silent. Except for the fly that was hitting the plastic window in effort to get outside and a buzzing street lamp, there was nothing to hear. Yet Pearl heard voices. She heard her thoughts which silenced everything else around her. Today, there were more of them, more than usually. Her mind was full of one only thing – full of one person. She tried not to think about her, trying so intensely that every new thought multiplied, and those thoughts were growing and growing. She saw blue color, lots of freckles, lots of honey sweet smiles, lots of…

   “Damnit!” She cursed and hid under the blanket. She shook her head several times, but it didn’t help. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. ' _Why is this happening? It wasn’t even anything big… I will never see her again, so why am I making any wishful thinking?_ '

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl decided to visit and watch a show jumping competition  
> • Lapis won her first gold in show jumping  
> • Pearl couldn't admit to herself that she has a crush on Lapis
> 
> ♦ 1st week (World Cup week, Thursday)


	2. Accidentally in Your Arms

   “It’s really coming down.” Pearl remarked, looking out of window, watching the lightning sky.

   “You’re lucky you’ve got your ass in my apartment right now.” Amethyst laughed, urgently searching for something in a fridge. „Maaan, there’s nothing in here!” She growled and slammed the fridge door. "I should’ve bought food before the storm started.”

   “Haven't I told you?” Garnet asked with a faint giggle, slowly sitting down onto a couch with a smile on her dark face. Amethyst just exhaled deeply.

   Pearl glanced over at Amethyst as she climbed up the kitchen unit and opened the cupboard, trying to find something to eat. "Well, I could take my bike and buy something after the storm is over.” Pearl offered, still watching the girl.

   “Oh yeah, could you even imagine a sleepover without any food?” The pudgy girl chuckled and jumped back down. "It’s a shame you're here by your bike, P. It would be faster with your ol' pickup… maybe.” She added.

   “If only I knew that weather like this would happen, I'd bring the pickup for sure.” She locked her mouth in a tight line, she turned back to the window and leaned her elbows against the window sill.

   “None of us saw that coming.” Garnet nodded in acceptance. She shifted her glasses a little upper onto her round nose.

   “Says the right person.” Amethyst snorted and sat down onto the couch next to her. "Oh! I have an idea!” Amethyst added suddenly.

   Pearl turned around again, looking at her. "And what is it?”

   “You can take your bike and bring us some cake from the confectioners' that’s behind the city, and I and Garnet can take a walk to the store down the street. The confectioners' is way farther than that, it would take us an eternity to get there and back, right?”

   Garnet hummed at that. She rubbed her chin and then she nodded. "That’s a good idea.”

   “I know right! I’m a hidden genius.” Amethyst smirked, her chest puffed in pride. "Man, I‘m really hungry for a cake.”

   Pearl giggled and cupped her mouth with her hand. "Alright. I’ll bring us something sweet to eat after that storm is over.”

   “Sounds great.” Garnet smiled at her.

<•••>

   Lapis was sitting on a bale of hay in the attic of a giant barn with little stable dog in her lap, listening to the sound of thunder that was loudly storming outside.

   She could perfectly see the whole barn interior from there. This view was one of many views which she really liked. Also this was the most favorite place of hers to spend alone times in. She dared say that she spent more time in there than in her own house. She really loved being here.

   As the lightning bolt flashed the sky, followed by a thunder sound, young puppy started to bark and tremble. Lapis squeezed it tightly and softly hushed it. “Calm down, girl. It’s just thunder.” She hugged the fluffy puppy and stroked its soft head. “I’m here, don’t worry. It won’t hurt you.”

   Raindrops were falling down fast, wind was blowing from side to side and sometimes Lapis could hear horses loudly neighing from the stable which was adjoined with the barn in which she was sitting.

   The floor plan of the building was designed into a  _T_  shape, the longer part of it was a stable with stalls, tack room and wash stall. The corridor then led to the minor part with storage and feed room placed right under the attic. If there wasn’t any hay in feed room anymore, and the staff needed to feed the horses, they had to climb up the ladder to the attic and get the food from there.

   Lapis loved every part of the area; including all the extensive meadows, training grounds, the attic of course. She also loved the horses, her friends and spending time with them – it was all just priceless.

   All of a sudden, Lapis recognized familiar footsteps that were coming from the open entrance to the barn on her left side. Someone just entered the barn.

   Lapis looked down at the person, but they haven’t noticed Lapis yet. Lapis giggled and decided to surprise that person by barking at them unexpectedly. "Yo, P-dot!”

   A young girl with short blond hair and glasses on her nose jumped in the air, all horrified, goosebumps all over her bare arms. She was all soaked to the bone. „Jesus Christ! Lapis!”

   Lapis started to laugh hardly at that. "Gotcha, bae!” She snorted aloud, laughing. “Where’d your umbrella go?”

   “Ha-ha…“ The girl rolled her eyes, trying to dry herself by pushing the raindrops down her arms. She was all wet without any warm clothes on.

   “Hey, how was Big Apple?” Lapis asked when she finally calmed down.

   “Yeah, great. Lots of people.” The blonde raised an eyebrow. She made a brief pause and thought. “… What are you doing up there?”

   Lapis looked around like if she was looking for the answer somewhere in the hay, then she looked back down at her friend. "Dunno, sitting? You know it's my fav spot, right?“ She shrugged.

   “Yeah, sure.” The other girl grinned and then she glanced over around the barn, looking for something. “Where’s Pumpkin? Haven’t seen her in a while.”

   “Oh, she’s here with me.” Lapis smiled triumphantly.

   “What?!” The blonde yelled. “How did she even get there?”

   “I brought her here. She was scared of the storm.” She then took the puppy into her arms and smiled at it.

   The girl stared at her misunderstoodly. “Have you even thought how you're gonna get her and your ass down?” She asked, eyebrows furrowed, arms crossed on her chest.

   Lapis froze as she was holding the puppy. She swallowed. “Eh… no?” She then slowly dropped the dog down into hay, trying to avoid her friend’s probably bad looking expresion.

   “Gee.” She sighed, rubbing her temples with her pointfinger and thumb, arms still crossed. “Have I ever told you that you’re a genius?”

   Lapis searched in her mind for a while. “Yeah… several times actually.”

   “Then I meant it ironically… just for you to know.” She rubbed her temples again. “Have you fed Percy today yet?”

   “No, I-I didn’t.” The blue-haired girl looked down at the other one and tossed her legs over the attic edge. "I knew you were coming, so…”

   “Oh, alright.” She blinked. “Anyway, thanks for looking after him. I’m gonna ride that horse until his hooves burn.”

   “Yeah, right.” Lapis grinned, thinking about how to get back down with the dog. She scanned the ladder from top to bottom. “… You know, I can’t even imagine being without Blue for that long.“

   The blonde watched Lapis with interest while she was trying to get down with Pumpkin resting in her arms. It sort of horrified her when Lapis didn’t climb down the last few steps and jumped them instead. She dropped the puppy down calmly. The dog looked around, maybe to make sure that there were no lightning bolts anymore and then it immediately ran straight to the blond-haired person.

   “We’re going for a ride with Blue, wanna join?” Lapis asked, walking towards her friend.

   “Thanks, but I’m quite busy today. I just came to check on you, guys.” She answered and kneeled down to greet the small ginger puppy. “Maybe tomorrow?”

   “Sounds good to me.” Lapis blinked. “By the way, nice to see you again, Peri.”

   “You too, Lapis.” The girl smiled. "And by the way… congrats to the victory last Thursday.”

<•••>

   “See you later!” Pearl waved, standing in the doorway.

   Garnet waved her back. “Be careful, Pearl. The road might be wet.”

   “I’ll be fine.” She giggled and grabbed the door handle, closing the door.

   “Hey, P!” Amethyst managed to address her before Pearl closed the door entirely.

   Pearl looked back at her. “What is it?”

   “Don’t forget to buy yourself a blueberry pie!” The purple-haired girl snorted, slapping her own thigh.

   Pearl blushed deeply at that and then slammed the door behind herself, still hearing Amethyst laughing. She sighed heavily and leaned her back against the door. She hid her face into her palms and stayed like that for a while, breathing slowly, but deeply. “Not again…“

   Pearl took a deep breath and walked to the corner where her bicycle was standing, she then called the elevator and walked it. After a brief ride downwards, she walked outside and jumped onto her old bike, heading straight to the confectioners'.

   It was cold outside after the storm and after several long minutes Pearl started to regret not bringing her sweater, but fortunately the confectioners' wasn’t that far away from Amethyst’s place, yet with her bike Pearl will surely be back in no time.

   It was exactly one week ago when she saw that charming girl with sky-blue hair for the first time. Pearl was still thinking about her, every day, every night, almost every minute, wondering what she might be doing right now.

   She was standing on the edge of the hill where nothing but an empty street decorated with an alley of trees was; right under her nose. The hill seemed really steep, but Pearl knew that she had to conquer it. She then clenched her teeth and stepped hardly into the pedal, slowly moving forward.

   The road was wet, just like Garnet predicted, so Pearl was trying her best not to let her bike slip off of the road, yet it was really hard.

   She was holding the brakes tightly which shortly caused her hands pain, and though she was squeezing the brakes, her cycle was still uncontrollably speeding up. It was almost unstoppable. Pearl was getting more and more nervous while the bike’s speed kept growing. The calm ride suddenly turned into a terrifying horror.

   “Come on, come on! Slow down!” Pearl pleaded like if the cycle could hear her, but it was still speeding up. She couldn’t stop it. For a moment she thought if the brakes could possibly be broken, but that hardly mattered. It was too late.

   All of a sudden her bike‘s front tyre went into a quick, unpleasant skid. Pearl pannicked and squeezed the handlebars as tightly as she could, screaming, but none of it helped her at that moment. Her bike slipped off of the road and Pearl, with a few painful tumbles, fell down right into a deep ditch, hitting her head really hard against the ground.

   Her bicycle stayed laying half on the road and half in the air, its wheels were still rolling, and it all happend just in a few most terrible seconds of her life.

   Pearl was resting on the bottom of the ditch, lying in a cool, tiny stream of water that was flowing down the hill. Her vision was blurred, she couldn’t hear anything but muffled ringing in her ears. Her head hurt as if a steam roller just ran over it. She was cold, her whole body was trembling and hurting, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t feel almost any part of her body. She didn’t know what to do.

<•••>

   Lapis picked up a riding saddle along with saddle pad and headed to her horse’s stall. She opened the gate and entered it.

   “Hellooo~, baby.” She addressed the horse melodically. The mare turned its head and greeted Lapis with a loud snort.

   “Missed me much?” Lapis giggled, lifting up the saddle with saddle pad and tossing it over the horse’s back. She took the girth, lifted up the saddle flap and attached the girth straps to the first and third strap on the saddle, tightening it. She walked back to the tack room and brought the bridle. When she came back, she got her right shoulder under the horse’s neck and put the reins over it, then she took the headpiece to her right hand, pulled it up to Blue’s forehead and with her left hand she put the bit into the horse’s mouth. And finally she put Blue’s ears throught the bridle and attached the throat latch to its other side.

   “Here we go.” She smiled widely as her job was done. She searched in the pockets of her warm waterproof jacket and pulled out two sugar cubes. The mare noticed it and immediately approached her.

   “Here, baby girl.” She stroked her dark mahogany-colored neck and gave her the cubes. “You’re beautiful, you know that? You're my sweet girl.”

   The mare whickered at that like if she agreed. Lapis couldn’t stop herself from giggling and stroked the horse’s strong neck several times again.

   She walked the horse outside the stable and mounted her, then softly squeezed her sides and asked her to walk. After a moment they walked outside the equestrian area and headed to the crossroads along a loamy forest path lined with lots of tall trees with lush foliage. Clouds finally rolled away and sun appeared in the sky when, shining beautifully through tree branches and leaves, sunbeams were making them prettily goldish and fresh. After Lapis and her horse passed that amazing forest path, they stopped on the crossroands.

   “So, where would you like to go today?” Lapis asked, patting the mare’s neck. There were so many possible ways to go, so many paths, but the mare chose the path which led to the city. Lapis wasn’t for one hundred percent sure about that, but eventually she shrugged and let her horse the lead.

   This path was shorter than the other ones and led to the main road where even wasn’t any traffic very often. The maximum number of cars which passed this road was four per day, but still Lapis preffered the dirt-surfaced soils and nature; such as woods or meadows, however, today‘s decision made someone else and she respected it.

   Soon, they made it to the main road and continued down the hill. Blue’s horseshoes were clapping loudly against the asphalt and Lapis really liked the sound of it. It was always calming her down, the sound of hooves when they touched the ground, rhythmically and harmonically, over and over again.

   They walked maybe for ten minutes when Lapis looked at the sky again. All the dark storm clouds almost fadded away and the sun continued its way down to meet the horizon. The sky was colored in the most beautiful gold-orange color that Lapis hasn't seen in a while. There were lots of large meadows and fields surrounding the road from both sides. Golden ears were slowly moving in the wind, birds were sweetly singing, cool breeze was calmly blowing, stroking and caressing Lapis' cheeks, making her feel utterly relaxed and happy.

   “Look at that view, girl.” She beamed widely. “Isn’t it beautiful?” She sighed dreamily.

   Suddenly, her horse stoppes harply and started to shake its head quickly, up and down, to the sides.

   “What-what is it? What happend?” Lapis pulled the reins back against her body, trying to calm her horse down, but the animal began stepping nervously on the spot. “What’s wrong, girl?” She finally stopped the horse from what was it doing. Lapis looked straight ahead to find the reason why was Blue acting like that. Maybe just a rabbit ran across the road, or a goose flew over it, she wondered.

   The rider blinked several times, then suddenly caught a sight of something in the distance, something shiny that was lying on the ground. Lapis spurred the horse and tried to get there as quickly as possible.

   “Huh? A bike? What is that doing here?” She wondered when she approached it. Then she glanced over and searched for its eventual owner, but there was nobody to see.

   Blue started stepping on the spot again, snorting yet more aggressively.

   “Whoa, whoa, girl. Calm down.” She pulled the reins again and stopped the animal.

   Lapis grabbed the pommel, jumped off of the saddle and glanced over again. She also noticed two long black stripes caused by the bike's tires. Lapis wondered if someone slipped off of the road, but where could they be if they did? “Hallo?” The blue-haired girl made a few steps forward, towards the ditch right next to the road.

   Blue whickered as Lapis approached it, however, she hushed her and continued forward. She looked over the edge of the road and nearly screamed. She saw a young lady lying on the bottom of the ditch in a stream of water. She wasn’t moving; Lapis hoped that she was at least breathing.

   “Oh my god. Miss?! Hallo?! Can you hear me?” She called, kneeling on the edge of the road, her horse then started to neigh again.

   “Hallo? Miss?!“ Lapis made a decision and carefully she slid down the ditch, her mare whinnying after her.

   “Miss, are you okay?” Lapis kneeled down next to her and shifted her body a little upper so she wasn’t sitting in the cold water. She took the girl into her arms and pulled her peach-colored bangs away from her closed eyes. She had a few scratches over her pale face and thin arms, but luckily there was no sign of bleeding. Yet even when she was a little bit battered, she was very beautiful, Lapis thought. She caught herself blushing a little. She shook her head.

   “Hallo? Can you hear me?” She asked softly. She cupped the girl’s cheek and patted it gently, just to wake her up. Lapis could hear her horse neigh from the road again, but she ignored it.

   Lapis scanned the girl from top to bottom, just to make sure that was breathing and that she might be able to move. She patted her cheek once again, staring worriedly at her.

   Suddenly Lapis felt as if the girl's breath changed. She was breathing more deeply than before. She shifted a little and snuggled to Lapis' chest, slowly she started opening her eyes.

   Lapis breathed out a sigh of relief as the girl started to move. She was really glad that she was okay – at least a little bit.

   “Can you hear me, miss?” Lapis asked again, still cupping her soft, pale cheek.

   The girl let out a cracked sigh. She tried to look up at Lapis, but her vision was still blurred and she couldn’t see almost anything. “Where am I?” She spoke weakly.

   “I suppose you fell from the wet road to the ditch.” Lapis answered calmly, still holding the girl in her arms. "Here, you must be cold." Lapis took off her jacket and tossed it around the girl’s body to keep her warm. "For how long have you been here?”

   “I… don’t know.” She whispered, trying so hard to bring herself back to earth. “What time is it?”

   Lapis thought and looked at the sky. “I don’t know. About 7 PM maybe.” She looked back down after that. “Are you okay? Can you move?”

   “I…” Pearl suddenly hissed in pain when she tried to sit up. “I think so.”

   “Okay, just slow down. I’ll get you out of here.” Lapis promised. She slowly stood up and helped the other girl get onto her feet. “Is that okay?”

   She hesitated, but nodded. She took the hem of athe jacket that Lapis gave her and squeezed it tightly on her chest, trying to warm herself up. She was really cold, trembling. She was weak, yet she had strength to walk. Her vision was still blurred, she couldn’t even recognize who her savior was, although something seemed very familliar to her.

   Lapis held the girl around her waist and helped her climb up the ditch. Once they made it to the edge of the road, Lapis let the young lady sit down and rest.

   She kneeled next to her, supporting her back with her arm, watching her.

   The girl wasn’t moving, she was just staring down at her lap, breathing deeply. She seemed really confused and weak. There was no doubt that she hit her head really hard.

   “Are you okay?” Lapis asked softly, looking worriedly into her swollen eyes. A slow nod was the answer.

   “What’s your name?” Lapis asked again.

   The pale girl turned her head to her, looking Lapis into her dark blue eyes. She could see a little bit better than before, but still she couldn't recognize her nor realize who she was. She swallowed heavily. “… Pearl.”

   Lapis blinked several times, just to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming. This girl was so beautiful, even when was hurt, battered. Lapis tried her best not to blush and get caught, but that hardly mattered. She probably wasn’t even perceiving her surroundings.

   “Okay… Pearl. I have no idea for how long were you sitting down there, but I have to take you to the stables so we can call a doctor.” She was talking slowly so Pearl could understand her.

   “Wait, what stable?” Pearl’s eyes slightly widened, and suddenly she felt a wave of hot breath rolling gingerly down her back. She froze for a moment, then she glanced over her shoulder and expected the worst.

   “ _A HORSE?!_ ” She screamed and immediately got on her feet, making several steps backwards. Lapis instantly followed her and took the girl by her hand, stopping her from falling down into the ditch again. The girl was trembling much more than before.

   “It’s okay, it’s okay!” She tried to calm her down. “She’s here with me. She won’t hurt you.”

   Pearl gasped and stepped back again. “I-I… get that thing away from me!” She pleaded. Lapis was still holding her hand, she stepped between Pearl and the horse.

   “Calm down, calm down, it’s okay.” She said calmly, but then thought. “… Now how am I supposed to take you to the stable?” She wondered. "Are you able to get on her?"

   Pearl was shaking, staring at that enourmous animal standing behind Lapis. “You… you won’t make me get on that thing.” She pointed at the mare.

   “Don’t worry, it’s safe. I'll help you.” Lapis assured her, but it didn’t make Pearl change her mind.

   “No, it’s not!” She cried and made another step back.

   Blue was standing there still like if nothing was happening. She snorted at the horrified girl who then jumped into the air in fear because of it.

   “Okay, just please…“ Lapis tightened her squeeze. “Do me a favor and don’t fall into that ditch again, okay? We will figure it out somehow.”

   Pearl gave her a moan as a response, shaking badly, terrified. She wanted to run away – as far as possible, no matter if she'd collapsed.

   “Pearl.” Lapis turned to her suddenly, holding her hand. “Can you walk?”

   Pearl wasn’t responding for a moment while she was uninterruptedly staring at the horse, but in the end she nodded.

   “Alright. I’ll take you to the stable. We’re gonna walk slowly, it’s about one mile away from here. Can you make it?”

   “To a  _stable?”_  Pearl interrupted her staring, sharp eyes fixed on Lapis. “ _Stable full of_   _horses?!_ ”

   Lapis rolled her eyes, exhaling, but there was no frustration in it. "You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t take you to the inside, just to the porch. I promise… you need to sit down and rest, but first we have to get you something to warm you up. My jacket is not enough.” She then looked resolutely into Pearl’s eyes and took her by her shoulders. After a moment she realized that she probably shouldn’t do that – she was blushing and she didn’t even want to. She was blushing really bad, even Pearl noticed that and blushed herself.

   ‘ _Those are such beautiful eyes…_ ’ Lapis thought, but then she made herself stop and looked aside. Pearl did the same, standing silently on the spot. She swallowed.

   All of a sudden a nicker of Lapis' horse broke the silence and they came back to themselves.

   “We-we should be going.” The blue-haired girl objected, but forgot that her hands were still resting on Pearl’s shoulders.

   Pearl glanced over at her bicycle. “But… what about my bike?”

   Lapis looked at it, mouth locked in a tight line. “What happens to your bike is completely irrelevant right now. I’ll come get it later, okay?” She offered.

   Pearl turned back to Lapis and agreed.

   Lapis took the bike and moved it away from the road so it couldn’t harm anyone while passing it. She then put her left arm around Pearl’s waist to support her and in her right hand she held Blue’s reins. Lapis walked between them and made sure that the horse won’t hurt Pearl somehow, even when she knew that Blue wouldn’t do such a thing.

   They walked slowly to the stable – together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis met her friend Peridot after a week  
> • Pearl was sent to bring something from the confectioners'  
> • Lapis found Pearl fallen in a ditch
> 
> ♦ 2nd week (Thursday)


	3. Eyes Full of Stars

   “Wait here, I’ll be right back, okay?” Lapis led Pearl towards the wooden bench standing next to the entrance to the barn, and helped her to sit down. Lapis knew that she has to be perfectly quick and that she can‘t leave Pearl there all alone for too long, since Lapis was aware of Pearl being terrified of horses.

   Pearl was too weak to protest so she just sat down and leaned her back against the wall, firmly squeezing Lapis' jacket that was tossed over her shoulders.

   Lapis took Blue’s reins and led her to her stall, pleading someone to untack her for her, then Lapis ran to the barn and climbed up the ladder. From the attic she took the large, soft blanket in which she sleeps when she spends a night there. Carefully, she climbed down the ladder and then ran straight to Pearl.

   At least it wasn’t too cold outside, but still Lapis felt bad for Pearl who must’ve been freezing. Damn, Lapis hoped that Pearl wasn’t sitting in that stream of water too long. She was worried about her health.

   Quickly, she wrapped the cover around Pearl and sat next to her. “Is this better?”

   Pearl nodded, still feeling a little dizzy. “Yeah.” She lifted her legs and hid them under the blanket, pressing them against her chest and trying to warm up herself a little faster.

   Lapis gazed at her for a moment, watching as her skinny body was shaking underneath the cover– she even noticed straw blades protruding out of it.

   “Oh, sorry. There may be straw on it.” She apologized and carefully she dusted a few blades off of her. Few of them were still on Pearl’s chest, but Lapis didn’t dare touching her there so she just pulled back after that.

   “It’s okay.” Pearl murmured slowly.

   “May I-uh… Bring you something? A tea or coffee?” Lapis offered.

   Pearl turned to her and smiled a little. “A tea would be nice.” She blinked.

   Lapis nodded and immediately headed back into the stable, Pearl’s eyes clung onto her back.

   Pearl really felt like something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t make out what. This girl was strange and yet so familiar at the same time.

   She was sitting there in silence, not moving, calmly breathing, with her eyes closed and head leaned against a wooden wall. She heard birds singing, wind blowing through the trees around her, crickets chirping and sometimes a horse neigh.

   She was slowly warming up thanks to Lapis' comfortable blanket. Pearl wasn’t too much prone to health problems so she was almost sure that there won't be any issues later. Maybe she might get a cold, but that was nothing that could harm her.

   After a moment she heard footsteps again, quick and hard. Pearl turned her head aside and half-opened her eyes, lips slightly apart.

   The blue-haired girl approached her, now with calm and quiet steps as she got closer. She handed Pearl a mug with a green tea. Pearl took it and nodded thankfully, cupping the mug with her cold thin fingers, holding it tightly.

   Lapis sat down onto the ground in front of Pearl and watched her for a bit. She watched as Pearl's thin lips touched the ring of the mug, slowly taking a sip of the hot fluid within it, then putting it back into her lap.

    “How do you feel?” The equestrian asked carefully. Pearl looked at her, not moving her head.

   “… It’s not the best, but… Not the worst either.” A warm smile appeared on her face and Lapis couldn’t that easily miss that, her freckled cheeks were becoming hot again.

   She shook her head and looked aside, just to avoid the girl’s gaze and hide her own red face from her sight.

   They were sitting there for a few moments, in silence, not speaking; just breathing, looking at each other every so often and looking away awkwardly to avoid the other's eyes.

   Even when Pearl really didn‘t prefer places like this, farms and stables, she had to admit that it wasn't that bad. It felt really nice, peacefull and calm around here, so quiet and harmonic.

    “Haven‘t we… seen each other somewhere before?” The skinny girl couldn't hold it anymore and asked. This question was spinning around her head for too long.

   Lapis chuckled quietly at that, rubbing her nape awkwardly. “I doubt it.”

    “You… really remind me of one person.” She admited with her honey-sweet voice, fishing memories from the bottomless depths of her mind.

   “Is that so?” Lapis grinned.

   “… Your hair…”

   “What about it?” Lapis smirked playfully.

   Pearl blushed a little at that, biting her lip. “It's… blue.” She said, watching it. She scanned every single hair lock, the way it lined the girl‘s jaw line. She scanned Lapis' beautiful ocean-blue eyes carefully, their wide, black pupils that were staring at her. She watched as Lapis' brown freckles were contrasting with her slightly tanned skin, shinning like a lighthouse at midnight. Pearl then looked at the curves of Lapis' thick, dark eyebrows, her long eyelashes. She didn’t even wear makeup, mascara or eyeshadows – her whole face was naturaly really enchanting and beautiful.

   Her gaze then slid down to Lapis' heart-shaped lips which were slightly apart. They seemed to be so sweet, so soft… so warm.

   Pearl lost her breath and didn’t even notice that. The only thing she was realizing so far was that she was totally melting because of the other girl‘s beauty.

   She blinked several times to clear her mind. She took a sip of her tea and then shyly looked down at Lapis again. “May I… use your phone?”

   “Hmm?“ Lapis raised her brows as if she missed the question, but responded eventually. “Oh, yeah. Sure. I almost forgot to call the doctor!” she stood up quickly, kicking herself mentaly for not being more responsible – but could she even complain when this girl was so beautiful?

   “No, it’s fine! It’s not necessary.” Pearl blurted at the mention of a doctor. “I’ll be fine.”

   “Oh.” Lapis stiffened. “Okay? I’ll… bring you the phone then.”

   “Thank you.” She smiled. Lapis blinked at her and left to get her cellphone for Pearl.

   Lapis was back in a minute and handed it to Pearl, then she dissapeared in the stable once again, giving Pearl some space.

   Pearl unlocked Lapis' phone. She saw a very beautiful woman, maybe about thirty-forty years old, with long, white hair, standing in the middle of a large sunflower field with a dark brown-coated horse. The woman was smiling, hugging the horse around its neck. She was wearing a long, blue dress and a pair of blue diamonds as earrings. Her smile was warm and honest, however, Pearl could feel as if there was pain hiding underneath that smile. She wondered who this woman was.

   She dialed Amethyst’s phone number on the device's little keyboard, since she knew that Garnet doesn’t pick up unknown numbers.

   The phone was ringing maybe for ten seconds and soon Pearl could hear her friend’s voice.

   “Yo, who’s that?” The girl seemed to be annoyed, but there was also something that was revealing worry.

   “Amethyst?” It’s me, Pearl.” She introdused herself.

   “Pearl?!” Amethyst yelled. “Dude, we called you at least for like thousand times! Why didn’t you pick it up? You were gone for like two hours! We thought something happened to you. Why aren't you calling from your phone? Where are you right now?” She blurted in one breath.

   Pearl sighed heavily, just to absorb the quantum of questions. “I had an accident and now I’m resting in some ranch with horses.” She explained.

   There was a creepy silence on the other side of the phone for a moment, but then Amethyst spoke again.  _“What?!_  Wait… weren’t you scared of horses just like two hours ago? What the hell are you doing there? Treating them with carrots?”

   Pearl moved the phone aside from her ear because of Amethyst‘s loud voice, but answered. “Some girl found me when she was passing by me with her horse. She took me here to rest, but don't worry, I'll be able to get back to you soon.”

   “Alright… I’ll tell Garnet. Man, thank God you’re okay.” The girl let a sigh of relief escape her lips. “We'll pick you up.”

   “It's okay, I’ll take a bus.” Pearl took another sip of her tea.

   “Gee… whatever, just be careful, do you understand?” A serious question was asked.

   Lapis appeared in Pearl’s view again, with a light smile on her lips. Pearl froze for a moment, but Amethyst calling her name brought her back to herself eventually.

   “Oh… y-yeah. I’ll be fine.” She assured her, but still watching Lapis with a corner of her eye, paying attention to what Amethyst was saying just in a half way.

   “See ya later then, P.”

   “See… you…” She dropped the phone and began hypnotizing Lapis as she came near her with hands put in her pants' pockets.

   “… I asked my friend to bring your bike. He’ll be back in a few minutes.” Lapis announced and sat down in front of Pearl.

   Pearl blinked several times. She started to realize something by staring at the girl.

   Since she hit her head really hard, her thinking was sort of slow, but thankfully, she was coming to herself by every minute. She could see almost perfectly now, she could hear the way she used to hear before that horrible accident happened.

   “Wait…“ She broke her train of thoughts and shook her head. “Aren’t you that girl from the show jumping World Cup?”

   Lapis failed biting back a smirk, knowing that the girl was absolutely righty yet her expression was amusing, and Lapis decided to let the girl make it out.

   “Lapis Lazuli?” Pearl asked nervously, though a bit unsure.

   “Wow.” Lapis raised her eyebrows in surprise, giggling. “I'm surprised you made up my whole name.”

 _‘God really must hate me…‘_ Pearl thought to herself, eyes wide. She immediately froze, staring at Lapis unbelievably.

   “Is… everything alright?” Lapis asked, but became a little worried according to Pearl's face. “… Pearl?”

   The girl cleared her throat as that sweet voice called her. “… I-uh… y-yeah… everything’s… fine, I ju… I just…” She started to feel unpleasantly dizzy again, her head was spinning. She wasn’t sure if all of that was happening because of hitting her head before… Or was it something else?

   Her eyes rolled backwards and her body started to fall aside. Lapis noticed that and immediatelly got on her feet, catching Pearl right on time.

   “Pearl?! What happened?” Lapis took the mug from Pearl’s hands and dropped it onto the other side of the bench. However, Pearl wasn’t responding, she just laid into Lapis' arms and let her head fall down onto her shoulder. Poor Lapis had no idea what was happening to her. She kept calling and calling the girl’s name, but she wasn’t reacting.

   “Pearl!”

<•••>

 _'Pearl? Pearl! Pearl?!_ _’_ Echoed in her head, over and over again. That honey-sweet voice. Ah, that voice… ' _Lapis?_ _’_

   She opened her eyes and hissed in pain, trying to sit up, but she couldn‘t.  _'Where am I?‘_ She turned her head to a side, just to find out where she was.

   She was lying on something; a hard mattress with white covers. The place smelled like desinfection, Pearl perceived. There was darkness all around her, she couldn’t see any single thing – probably because it was too late at night. Why did she have the goddamn feeling that she was in a hospital?

   ' _Was I dreaming back then? Was that all… just a dream?’_

   Pearl noticed her forearm being swathed in bandages from which was a tubing leading to a device that was quietly beeping behind her head, making her head hurt yet more because of these monotone sounds.

   She was all alone, in a terrifying silence, lying somewhere in the dark, not knowing where she was and why. She was scared.

   Her throat constricted, she sobbed. A hot tear appeared in a corner of her eye and rolled down her pale cheek, followed by another and another teardrop. She started to cry.

_'… I wanna go home…‘_

<•••>

   She was lying in hay on her left side, covered in her blanket, squeezing it softly, with one arm folded under her head. She could still smell Pearl’s perfume on the cover; sweet and easy fragrance.

   Lapis moved the blanket up to her nose and smelled it once more, although she felt quite weird while doing it.

   She exhaled and tightened her grip. “Hope you’re okay.”

   She was thinking too much, she couldn't sleep. Her head was full of her; the girl with peach-colored hair, sparkling turquoise eyes and enchanting smile and… “Shit, forget that!” Lapis cursed and sat up quickly, face buried in her palms. She groaned. “What am I doing?”

   She decided to climb down from the attic. Quietly, she walked towards Blue’s stall, and once she got there, she took twostall bars into her hands and looked through them, wondering if the horse was asleep.

   Lapis sighed and bit her lip, openening the gate as quietly as possible. She entered the stall and carefully touched her horse. “You asleep, hon?” She whispered.

   The mare turned her head towards Lapis and grunted sleepily, shaking her pointy ears.

   “Ow, did I wake you up, girl? I’m sorry…“ She hugged the horse around its neck and stroked it apologetically. “But… wouldn’t you like to go out for a midnight walk with your good old friend Lapis? No tacking.”

   Blue snorted, making a few steps on the spot. Lapis smiled and walked her out of the stall. She then took a headcollar from the stall gate and put it onto her horse’s head. She decided not to bring the lead, she just grabbed her mare by the halter and led her outside the stable, walking slowly towards the grazing meadow near the barn building.

   Once they entered the grazing meadow surrounded by a rope fence, Lapis let go of her horse’s headcollar and together they continued up the hill.

   Though Blue seemed quite tired just a few minutes ago, she was trotting and bucking into the air happily. Lapis couldn’t stop herself from smiling. She watched how happy Blue was, how she was playing outside, how she was contentedly trotting around and neighing, how her short mane was waving in the slow blowing wind.

   Today’s night was clear with sky full of bright stars and a half moon. After Lapis walked up the hill, she sat under her favorite and only tree that was growing there. It was a small maple tree with red leaves growing from its branches. Lapis loved sitting under the tree and watching the night sky, listening to the loud crickets all around her. She loved making new wishes and thinking about the future, but tonight it won’t be thinking about the future… Probably.

   Lapis sighed and closed her tired eyes.

   Blue raised her head from the ground, watching Lapis silently as she was sitting under the tree, leaning against its trunk. After a moment the mare approached her owner slowly and poked Lapis' cheek softly with her muzzle. She continued upper onto the top of Lapis' head and breathed hot air out of her lungs, making Lapis' indigo hair locks flutter.

   Lapis opened her eyes and sighed with a smile. She took her horse by its throat and with her free hand she stroked its forehead and nose. “Who is that girl, Blue?” She asked, whispering, combing the mare’s mane. As she became sure that she won't receive the answer, she hugged the horse around its big head, giving its forehead a kiss.

   “What is happening to me?” She asked again with a sniff, still hugging the horse.

   Blue nickered at Lapis, leaning her head againstthe girl's shoulder.

   “You’re right. It’s over…” She thought and sighed heavily. “I should stop… there's no chance seeing her ever again… ThoughI I still wish could.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis took care of Pearl while she was resting by the stable  
> • Pearl was confused and wondered if all that happened was just a dream  
> • Lapis found out she has a crush on Pearl
> 
> ♦ 2nd week


	4. A Gift

“How do you feel?” Garnet asked in her low voice, standing in the doorway while Pearl was sitting on her preferred place in Garnet's house.

   Pearl was looking out of a window at that moment. She glanced over at her older friend. “… I’m fine.” She said, although not sounding much convincing.

   Garnet approached her and sat down onto the bed next to her. “I‘m glad the concussion is over, but I still have a feeling that something’s bothering you.”

   Pearl looked Garnet into her dark eyes. Garnet always recognized when something wasn't right. She was never wrong in these things. Pearl couldn’t lie to her nor even try, though she didn’t want to tell her the truth. What was she supposed to do then?

   Pearl looked back out of the window and leaned her forehead against the glass. “It’s nothing. I’m just being ridiculous.” She forced a smile.

   Garnet was silent for a while, watching Pearl as she was trying to hide her emotions and slightly red cheeks. “Being in love doesn’t mean being ridiculous, Pearl.”

   Pearl immediately pulled back, face bright red. “What?!” She turned her head to Garnet again. “But Garnet–”

   “–You don’t have to be ashamed if you like her, Pearl. Falling in love with someone is natural.”

   “But I…” Pearl bit her lip hard, furrowing her eyebrows. ' _How does she know that I…?_ ' As she opened her mouth to say something, but Garnet managed to answer her question yet before it was asked.

   “Just be honest with her. Don’t be afraid of telling her.” A warm, honest smile appeared on her dark face and gently she put her hand onto Pearl’s shoulder.

   “You know that I can’t.” Pearl opposed with a soft sign. “What would she think of me?”

   The dark-skinned woman smirked widely and shook her head. “Probably that you’re a sweet girl.”

   Pearl blushed deeply at that, she couldn’t be redder than she was at that moment. “What… what makes you think that?”

   Garnet smirked again, still holding her hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “You're asking such silly questions sometimes, Pearl.”

   The skinny girl locked her mouth in a tight line, staring still at Garnet. The older woman then pulled back and shifted her glasses upper.

   “She was worried about you. She kept calling every day to make sure that you were okay…” She made a brief pause and then continued. “I think she would like to see you again.”

   ' _I'd like to see her, too…_ ‘ Pearl looked aside with a sigh.

   “You don’t have to be afraid of anything. Just be honest.” She patted Pearl’s shoulder several times then. Slowly, she stood up and headed towards the door, giving Pearl some time and space to think. She grabbed the door handle and turned back to Pearl once again. “May I bring you something? A tea or coffee?”

   Pearl froze, feeling as if she's already heard this question before, but by someone else.

  “Tea…” She blinked and smiled a little. “A tea would be nice…”

   She watched Garnet nodding, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Pearl listened to the sound of footsteps slowly vanishing in the distance, then and again she leaned her head against the window, wondering what to do.

   <•••>

   “Damnit…” Lapis cursed as she knocked down another pole, cantering along the fence that was surrounding the outer training area.

   “Dude, what’s wrong with you? Have you even jumped any fence today?” Peridot asked, sitting on the wooden fence and watching Lapis.

   Lapis pulled the reins and stopped her horse in front of her friend, taking off her helmet. “I’m done today… I don’t know what’s wrong. It was okay just a few days ago.”

   “Pff…” Peridot sputtered. “Just give it a rest, woman. You won the World Cup two weeks ago! You should relax…“

   Lapis looked at her, quite annoyed.

   Peridot cleared her throat and opened her mouth. “Hey, do you know what would I do?” She asked eagerly, clapping her palms together.

   “Ride your boyfriend instead of your horse?” Lapis gave her a taunting look.

   “Hey!” The blonde barked. “Take that back!”

   Lapis shrugged. “Make me…“ She snorted.

   Peridot growled, closing her eyes. “But seriously. What‘s going on with you? You’re acting strange… Are you on period?”

   “No, I’m not!” Lapis hissed, rolling her eyes. She spurred her horse aggressively and asked it to trot, leaving Peridot.

   “Where are you going?” The smaller equestrian asked, leaning both elbows against her knees, pointy chin resting in her palms.

   “I’m gonna try it again.” Lapis called from the distance, approaching the vertical standing on the opposite side of the fence from where Peridot was watching her.

   Lapis squeezed Blue’s sides right in front of the obstacle, jumping into the air and crossing it successfully. She headed to another fence in the training block. She spurred her horse again and jumped over the reduced obstacle.

   “Good one.” Peridot nodded and jumped off of the fence, approaching the fallen fence that Lapis had knocked down before. “I’ll go clean Percy, can you do it alone here?” She asked, lifting up the fallen rail and putting it onto its place.

   “I’ll be fine.” Lapis answered, galloping around.

   After her friend left the training ground, Lapis tried to make several rounds without hitting any rail, but she couldn’t make it, even when she was trying her best.

   “Aaarghh!” She growled loudly, mad at herself. “ _Why_ can’t I do that?!”

   She dismounted her horse and walked her way to the fallen vertical, taking its rail and putting it back. She slowly headed to the other obstacle and fixed it, murmuring something to herself. Lapis then climbed up onto the fence and sat on it, face buried in her hands. It didn’t take too long before Blue came to her and stood in front of Lapis, snorting at her, watching and waiting what will happen next.

   “What’s wrong with me?” She sniffed, looking at her mare, though she knew that she won’t get any response from her. “I need a break…” Lapis sighed and took her horse’s muzzle into her hands, giving Blue a small kiss onto her white snip between her nostrils. “Just give me ten minutes.”

   <•••>

   “I can’t believe I’m doing this…“ Pearl stared ahead in disbelief, holding a piece of paper with letters written on it. She was standing in the gateway leading to a big area with fences, meadows, a stable and big, wooden barn. Everything was telling her not to enter this terrifying area full of giant, dangerous, loud animals that were Pearl’s creepiest nightmare, nevertheless, there was one thing that made Pearl come. She tried all kinds of things to make herself go, and eventually she induced herself to do so. There was no way back. She was doing it; right here, right now.

   She took a deep breath and stepped forward, leading her bike by her right side. On her way down the hill, Pearl realized that she forgot to ask Garnet how she got Pearl and her bike back home after that accident.

   She was careful this time and slowly she walked along a loamy path leading to the stable. While walking the slowest way possible, she heard several loud whinnies that forced her to stop, trying to persuade herself that it’s absolutely safe and okay to continue in what she was doing.

   Finally she overcame the hill and slowly, doubtfully she approached the entrance to the barn. She swallowed hard, biting her bottom lip. There came a loud neigh again and Pearl jumped into the air in fear, almost making herself turn around and run away.

   Her breath suddenly accelerated, her hands started to tremble. She wanted to leave immediately.

   ' _No, stop! You can’t leave now! Once you got here, you have to finish what you started!_ ’ Pearl clenched her teeth and resolutely walked towards the barn. She recognized the bench where she was sitting on, when Lapis brought Pearl the large and soft, warm blanket and delicious green tea there.

   Pearl sighed dreamily and wished she could bring it back, although she wasn't entirely sane back then. With another horse neigh, she shook her head and came back to reality. She leaned her bike against the bench and gingerly, carefully she entered the barn.

   She was breathing fast, stepping silently near the tall walls, trying to avoid the large, empty-handed barn and its great space. As she continued forward, she kept touching the wall on her left side with both of her hands, at least the wall wasn’t that scary at sight. On her right side, there was a ladder leaning against an attic edge where many bales of hay were kept. Also, there were several bales of hay under the attic; in a half-empty room without a front wall.

   ' _Probably a feed room._ ’ Pearl thought for a moment, but cleared her head right after that.

   Next to the feed room and the attic above it, at the end of the short corridor, was another room with a  _Storage_ sign on the door. On the other side of the hall, ahead of the entrance to the barn, was also another one.

   Pearl continued further into the building, still keeping the wall near her left side. There were lots of dry gold ears of hay lying everywhere on the ground, yet there were stable prongs and shovels standing near the walls, too.

   As Pearl was looking around the interior, a pair of swallows flew into the barn and headed to the attic, she noticed. She wondered if they had a nest there; it made Pearl smile.

   Pearl then appeared next to the open entrance to the stable which was connected to the left side of the barn. She remembered to touch the wall, but suddenly she realized that she couldn’t continue. There were stalls on both sides of the hall; no safe wall. Pearl, half-hiding behind the corner, thoroughly scanned the whole area, watching all the dark eyes that were staring at her, watching her every movement, every blink of her eyes.

   ' _This wasn’t a good idea…_ ‘ Pearl felt a drop of sweat rolling down her forehead, and another, and another. ' _This wasn't a good idea at all…_ _”_ She swallowed hard, squeezing the doorframe violently enough to engrave her nails into it, hands shaking.

   All of a sudden, Pearl heard a loud bash against a wooden plank of a horse stall, making the the whole stable interior shake because of it. It was caused by a huge, strong and really terrifying pitch-black horse. It kept kicking and bashing into walls with its hind legs, so aggressively and violently. The animal was whinnying loudly, still hitting to the wooden walls and didn't even seem to stop any soon.

   For a moment, Pearl felt like she let go of her soul. She froze on the spot, her legs and hands were unable to stop from shaking, her heart was bouncing wildly in her small chest. Her eyes were swollen and welled with tears, her jaw was trembling, mind completely fogged. She wasn't able to think nor do anything else than just stand face to face with the worst nightmare she could imagine.

   “Malachite! Shut up, you fucking nag!” Suddenly, someone yelled from the other side of the stable, making the horse stop. “Christ, what’s wrong with you today?”

   A short girl with blond hair approached Malachite’s stall. The fact that the girl was really tiny against that giant horse was quite amusing to Pearl. She almost wasn’t even once its size, though Pearl had to admit that the girl could prove her authority very well.

   “Hey.” The blonde looked Pearl's direction, putting her hands onto her hips. “Can I help you?”

   Pearl, paralyzed with fear, was searching for words, yet trying to move. “I-I… I…”

   “Y-y-you what?” Peridot asked, sounding quite impatient. She then turned on her heels and walked towards the horse that was standing in the center of the corridor with back turned to Pearl. The horse was attached to a steel pillar with a rope, standing still with ears turned backwards and listening to surroundings.

   Pearl swallowed, staring at Malachite who seemed to be calm at that moment, then she looked at the unknown girl who was now standing on the "corridor" horse‘s left side. She slowly moved her left hand from the horse’s flank towards its hind leg, sliding it down and lifting its pastern. She leaned the strong leg against her thigh and pulled a hoof pick out of her pants' pocket. Holding the hoof gently, she started clearing it from dirt.

   “So, are ya going to tell me or are you gonna stand there like that all day?” The equestrian raised her head, gazing at Pearl who didn’t seem to move from the spot yet.

   Pearl cleared her throat, still afraid of moving. “I-uh…” She straightened in her back, searching for words. She wondered what was that girl thinking; that some strange girl just walked into their stable neither without any invitation nor even without any permission to enter the area?

   “You’re not much talkative, huh?” The equestrian chuckled to herself, continuing in clearing the horse’s hoof. “Are you looking for something?”

   Pearl then clenched her teeth and took her courage, at least the small amount that left. “I’m… I’m looking for… L-Lapis.”

   After mentioning her name, her cheeks became slightly red. She was glad that the distance between them was big enough for the girl not to see. Well, at least Pearl hoped she couldn’t.

   The blonde raised her head again, measuring Pearl thoroughly from top to bottom. Pearl became nervous under the girl's gaze and without knowing she made one short step backwards.

   Another neigh filled the stable and Pearl jumped in surprise into the air, then she hid behind the corner. ' _Oh my god. Who induced me to do this?! I must look like a total fool!_ ’

   “Oh yeah, Lazuli's at the back, out the stable. Training ground, you can’t miss that.“ The blonde said and continued in her work, but after a few seconds, she could hear horseshoes clapping against the floor right behind her.

   “Who’s at the back again?” Suddenly, another girl appeared in the stable, passing the girl and her Haflinger with big mahogany-coated horse.

   The blond-haired girl turned around to see who it was, although she recognized that voice. “Oh, there you are. Some girl was looking for you.” She said and turned back to finish clearing the hoof.

   Lapis led her horse further into the center of the stable. “Some who?” She asked and when she noticed Pearl hiding on the other side of the hall, she stiffened on the spot; and Pearl likewise.

   There was maybe a six-meter long distance between them. They both stared at each other totally breathless with cheeks slightly red, not moving a muscle. The moment of absolute silence then broke Lapis’ horse that poked her right shoulder with its muzzle, making Lapis shake her head and bring herself back to earth.

   “… Pearl.” She breathed out, not able to look elsewhere but her.

   Pearl swallowed and made a step to the side so she wasn’t hiding behind the corner. “H-hi…” A cracked greeting left her mouth. Waving her hand slowly, Pearl bit her lip.

   “Hi.” Lapis sighed with a shy grin. “What… brings you here?”

   “I… uh.” Pearl couldn’t find words. She was watching Lapis as she was taking off her helmet.

   Lapis shook her head, making her blue mane flutter in the air. For Pearl, it was all like a slow motion with charming music and all these sparkles around… Lapis was just so enchanting.

   Pearl suddenly felt dizzy again. She had to lean her body against the wall to support herself because she felt like her knees were about to buckle.  _'No, you can’t… you can’t let this happen again!’_

   “Are you okay?” The equestrian asked worriedly. Her horse poked her again, this time her head. The animal took a blue hair lock into its lips and started toying with it. Lapis then softly pushed the horse aside, still watching Pearl.

   “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Pearl assured her, trying to straighten.

   Lapis presumed that Pearl probably won’t go further into the building and so she decided to walk to the place where Pearl was standing. She let go of Blue’s reins and slowly approached the skinny girl, making the distance between them shorter with every step.

   She stopped right in front of her, realizing that Pearl was actually taller than her, kind of like her sister. “Are you sure you’re okay? Don’t you wanna sit down?”

   Pearl couldn’t believe that she was actually so kind. Most strangers she met in the past weren’t so nice to her, often. So why was she?

   “No, it’s okay. Thank you.” A small, shy smile appeared on her lips.

   Lapis smirked at that, letting her cheeks become warm. “Tell me, have we even formally introduced one another?”

   Pearl thought, but she couldn’t find a positive answer. She shook her head. “I… don’t think so.”

   “Well then…“ Lapis offered Pearl her hand with a warm smile on her mouth and looked Pearl into her turquoise eyes. “Nice to meet you, I’m Lapis. Lapis Lazuli.”

   Pearl hesitated for a moment, but accepted Lapis’ offer and gently shook their joined hands. “I’m Pearl. Just… Pearl for you.”

   “Okay,  _just_  Pearl.” Lapis giggled. “So, what brings you back to the stable?”

   When Pearl opened her mouth to say something, her eyes suddenly widened. She screeched in fear as Lapis’ horse came near her and stopped next to Lapis’ right side, looking over her shoulder. Pearl instantly made several steps backwards.

   “No, no! It’s okay. She won’t hurt you.” Lapis reached out her hand, stopping her friend who started to panic. The horse didn’t do anything about that; it just stood there innocently and watched them both dealing with their problems.

   “Trust me, Pearl. I wouldn’t let her hurt you.” Lapis smiled at her, taking Pearl by her hand cautiously.

   Pearl almost stopped shaking after that; Lapis’ touch sort of calmed her down. Her hand was soft and warm with soothing vibration that overwhelmed her whole body.

   “O-okay.” She nodded, biting her lip. She really enjoyed the moment when Lapis was holding her hand, squeezing it gently and carefully.

   Pearl’s fingers lowered, though she was trying her best not to touch Lapis with them, trying not to squeeze her hand, too; just letting herself be held.

   “See?” Lapis patted Blue's neck, then she placed her free hand onto her big head and stroked her long nose. “She’s a good girl.”

   Pearl nodded quickly, wanting to run away from that enormous animal as far as possible, but something was still telling her that she doesn’t have to be afraid.

   Lapis was really charming, Pearl thought. She was a bit smaller than her. She had freckles and beautiful, deep, dark eyes. Pearl felt like she was prettier than the last time. She was so enchanted by Lapis that she almost forgot the reason why she actually came back.

   Pearl finally cleared her throat, letting go of Lapis’ hand, though something inside her didn’t want to. “I just… I wanted to thank you for… rescuing me, and… all those things you did for me back then.”

   Lapis smirked, shaking her head and giving Pearl a honest smile. “Rescuing someone when they're in trouble is a matter of course, isn’t it?”

   “Yeah…” Pearl locked her mouth in a tight line, looking aside awkwardly.

   “Actually… we found you thanks to Blue. She wanted to go to the city that day. You should rather thank her.” Lapis grinned, patting her horse. “Right, girl?”

   Blue whickered and poked Lapis again, snuggling to her and toying with her clothes.

   A wide, warm smile spread upon Pearl’s cheeks. In the end, that animal didn’t seem to be as scary as she thought. Pearl could feel love and harmony between these two.

   “Well… thank you, too… Blue.” Pearl addressed her carefully, and as she was watching Lapis and her horse, she remembered something – something important that was the reason of her comeback.

   Pearl put her hand into her pocket and briefly she was searching for something. Eventually, she pulled out a piece of red folded fabric and shyly she handed it to Lapis.

   “What is it?” Lapis asked softly and took it, thereupon her horse sniffed it.

   Pearl’s cheeks turned bright red when words failed her. She knew what she wanted to say, but she had no idea how to do it.

   “I-uh…” She rubbed her nape and looked aside, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I thought flowers would be kind of… exceptional, so…“

   Lapis unfolded the fabric carefully, finding a beautiful, shiny little thing. “… A pearl?” Lapis’ eyes widened in amazement. She looked at Pearl with a surprised expression.

   Pearl then looked back at her, not even trying to hide her red cheeks. “Yeah… My dad works for a company that’s dealing with corals, pearls and other sea stuff… and I thought that… you might like it.”

   Lapis’ eyes shone, she couldn’t believe her own eyes. “Oh, it's  _so_  beautiful! I’ve never seen a real pearl before… Wait. You’re not really giving me this, are you?”

   Pearl’s cheeks then flushed with darker shade of red. “Well… I am.”

   “But, Pearl… I can’t keep such a beautiful thing like this.” She looked worriedly at her, eyebrows furrowed.

   “Of course you can.” Pearl opposed. “You saved my life.”

   The blue-haired girl just stared at her unbelievably, unable to say any single word. A tear appeared in a corner of her eye.

   Lapis then made one quick step forward. She wrapped her arms around Pearl’s shoulders and squeezed her tightly, enough so not to crash her. “Thank you…“

   Pearl immediately lost her breath as Lapis’ chest was pressed against hers. She felt her quick heart beat, her breath, the warmth of her body. She could smell her sweet spring perfume again; it was so light and comforting. Who would think that a girl from stable actually doesn’t smell like a horse?

   The taller girl then took a deep breath. She'd crack up if she let her brain and other important organs stay without oxygen. Slowly, hesitantly, she put her arms around Lapis’ slim waist and gave it a tender squeeze.

   Lapis recognized that perfume, the light fragrance that was clung onto her blanket; now she had its source right under her nose. She also perceived the pleasant smell coming from Pearl’s fresh-washed peach hair.

   They stayed like that for so long, yet for a really short time. None of them wanted to get separated from one another, but they had to.

   Lapis thought, as the one who started all this, that she should also end this. She then weakened her grip and made a step backwards.

   Pearl felt so weak and strong at the same time. She had no idea what exactly this strange feeling was, but it was always happening when she was near her, or when she was thinking about her.

   Today‘s night will definitely be a long one – for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl visited the stable again, but this time by herself  
> • Pearl met Peridot for the first time  
> • Lapis received a gift
> 
> ♦ 2nd–3rd week


	5. Big Plans

“You’re… welcome.” Pearl let out breathlessly, completely paralyzed by what just happened.

   They were standing there without any single word then. They both were lost in their thoughts, staring at each other – even that horse was gazing at them, probably wondering what kind of a strange ritual that was.

   Pearl pulled a hair lock behind her ear, biting her lip softly and looking aside. “I… should probably go now. I don’t want to disturb you.”

   “You’re not!” Lapis reacted immediately, and it was a little bit louder than she wanted it to be. “I mean… you’re not disturbing me.”

   Lapis’ cheeks became slightly red as Pearl looked back at her. There were thousands of words she wanted to say, but Lapis was too shy to do so. She couldn’t. Her tongue was curled up in her mouth, she wasn’t able to say anything.

   Blue then decided to give Lapis a hand. She made one step backwards and with her muzzle she pushed Lapis forth, making her doing several forced steps towards Pearl. Lapis panicked a little when she appeared just a few inches away from her, almost making a contact with her chest again.

   “Blue?! What are you…“ Lapis tried to pull herself back, but the mare was still pushing her forward. “I-I’m sorry, I… she’s not usually like this." And as Lapis finished the sentence, she was pushed against Pearl again, slightly touching her.

   Normally, Pearl would make a step backwards, but for some reason she didn't.

   “I’m sorry, Pearl.” She apologized and then turned around, pushing her horse away. “Blue, stop it! Damnit, what’s wrong with you?”

   “Maybe she’s hungry.” Pearl opined. She didn’t notice that yet, but even when Lapis’ horse was this near, Pearl didn’t feel much nervous.

   “Well, yeah.” Lapis agreed, embarrassed, still pushing her horse away. “I should probably feed her…“

   Pearl tittered, crossing arms on her chest in embarrassment. “Okay, so… I-I gotta get going, I… won’t bother you, guys.”

   “No, it’s okay.” Lapis finally made the mare stop, though she had an unpleasant feeling that Blue will surely do it again in a short time. “You can stay.”

   Pearl licked her lips; they became dry for some reason. “Thanks, but… I’ve got some plans for today.” She lied. She would really like to stay, but there was a problem. Well, actually lots of problems; giant problems with big dark eyes that were staring at her since she came here.

   “Oh.” Lapis lowered her eyes in disappointment and rubbed her nape. “Yeah, well, I… it totally slipped my mind that I actually wanted to clean my horse and… the stable and some stalls, too… so, yeah… I should be going, too.” She stammered. Well, sure she was going to clean stalls and horses, what else would she do? ' _Geez, I'm so stupid. I couldn't make out anything worse._ '

   Pearl looked at Lapis with a worried expression. She felt like something was bothering her. That girl suddenly seemed so sad.

   “So…” The taller girl said, clearing her throat softly. “This is our goodbye?”

   Lapis crossed her arms on her chest, not looking at Pearl, although this was the only thing she wanted to do at that moment. “Yeah… probably.” She squeezed the red fabric in her hand and sighed.

   “… So, goodbye then… Lapis.” Pearl said, a little confused and… sad, yet she didn't even know why. Was it because Lapis wasn’t looking at her? ' _She probably doesn’t want to see me… huh… I knew that this whole thing was a bad idea… I shouldn’t do that…I shouldn’t give her that stupid pearl.‘_  She thought and bit her lip hard.

   “Bye…“ Lapis murmured, not moving a muscle.

   With that Pearl made a step backwards and turned around slowly, still watching Lapis, hoping for her to look at her for the last time. But Lapis didn’t lift her head.

   Pearl breathed out heavily and started off getting her bike. Hot tears started welling up in her eyes as she was leaving. But why?

   ' _What was I thinking? That someone so famous like her would hang out with some ordinary girl like me? Huh… I was just being ridiculous again…_ ‘ She grabbed the handlebars and pulled the bike away from the bench, but then she could hear quick footsteps behind her. She turned around.

   “Pearl, wait!” Lapis called, stopping in the doorway. She took Pearl by her shoulder and stopped her. “I-um, sorry I… I just…”

   Pearl stood there and stared at her. She could do nothing but enjoy her touch again.

   Lapis then straightened and pulled her hand back from Pearl. “It was-uh… nice to see you again, Pearl.”

   Pearl blushed at that, wondering what to say. She thought that Lapis had no interest in her and let her leave just like that, but it seemed that she actually cared about her; just like Garnet told her.

   “You too, Lapis.” She smiled shyly, blinking. She even noticed Lapis blushing a little.

   “I was wondering if…“ Lapis started, she rubbed her forearm and blushed yet more when she felt Pearl’s gaze on herself. “If you’d like to… hang out… sometimes. Maybe?”

   For a moment Pearl felt as if a heart attack wasn’t actually too far from happening. Her eyes widened, almost dropping the bike down.

   “I… I’d like to.” She grinned.

   Lapis gave her a warm smile, the one and only smile that could make Pearl crack up on the spot, but fortunately none of that happened.

   “Oh, r-really? Well… I have to admit that… It was quite unexpected…“ Lapis chuckled and looked down at the red fabric. “So… see you around?”

   “See you around.” Pearl nodded. She mounted her bike and headed towards the hill where the area entrance was, slowly making the distance between her and Lapis bigger and bigger.

   Before Pearl left the area, Lapis managed to wave at her. “Take care so I don’t have to fish you from a ditch again!”

   Pearl waved and laughed at that. “I will!“ She called back. She was standing there for a while, watching Lapis as she kept waving. Pearl gave her one last smile and then disappeared behind the horizon.

 

   Lapis was still standing there, enchanted, watching as Pearl was slowly disappearing. She leaned her side and head against the doorframe. She sighed dreamily, lowering her eyelids. “I think I’m going crazy…“

   “I bet you are." This sentence suddenly came out of nowhere and Lapis jerked.

   “Who was that clod?" Peridot approached her friend and stood next to her.

   “Excuse me?" Lapis turned her head to the small girl. “She’s my… friend.”

   “Hello?" Peridot waved her hand right in front of Lapis’ nose. “Don’t dream too big, Laz. Do you really think that a girl like that would have an interest in you?”

   “What? Why are you asking me such a thing?” She asked, quite confused and yet embarrassed. Since when Peridot cared?

   “Do you think I’m stupid? Just look at that stupid face you're making! I bet you were blushing like shit… and I didn’t even have to see it.” The girl proclaimed, then rubbed her chin. “Wait a minute… that actually smells like something.”

   “What-what are you talking about?” Lapis crossed arms on her chest defensively, trying to hide the red fabric that Pearl gave her; just as her red face.

   “That’s why you’re acting so weird lately! You’re like that since that accident happened." Peridot began puzzling the pieces together. "She's the girl who it happened to, right? It’s because of her!” Peridot nudged Lapis' shoulder. “You like her!”

   “Stop that.” Lapis pushed Peridot away, making her stop harassing. Lapis bit down onto her lip, yet still she was smiling; feeling a bit ashamed of denying the truth.

   “Hey, c’mon, Lapis. I’m just teasing.” She grinned widely and poked the blue-haired girl again. Peridot then turned around and headed back to the stable. “Now come on, don’t you have a dung to muck out?”

   Lapis sighed. She looked up the hill, hoping for seeing Pearl again, although she knew that she was already gone. Lapis then looked down at the soft fabric. She unfolded it and in the center of it appeared a beautiful, big pearl; shiny and sparkling. For a moment, Lapis had a feeling as if Pearl was there with her. Well, actually she was – literally.

   She scanned the pearl carefully, she watched it glistening. It was just too perfect and beautiful for her. She'd watch it all the rest of the day. Well, she could, but after her job here is done.

   She hid the pearl into the smooth fabric and put it into her pocket, then she headed to the stable to see Peridot and the rest.

   She entered the main part of the building and immediately stopped, noticing her horse standing on the same spot where she left it. “Ah, Blue…“ She groaned and ran to her, giving her a hug. “I’m sorry, girl. I was rude to you when I… wait a minute. You’re the one who should be apologizing!”

   The mare then made a few steps backwards, neighing at Lapis as if she was laughing at her. She trotted on the spot and swung her head up and now, making her mane wave in the air.

   “Why are you laughing?” Lapis chuckled and approached her horse again, nudging her teasingly. “Don’t you dare laughing at me! Where‘s your stall? Shoo, shoo!”

   Blue whinnied at her for the last time and turned around, trotting to her stall with Lapis running right after her. “Whether you’re there or I’ll get you!”

   Lapis ran after her, laughing and passing Peridot as she was finishing clearing Percy. Peridot just stared at her unbelievably.

   “You really are going crazy…“ She laughed under her nose, untying the rope which was Percy attached to and leading him into his stall.

   Blue found her stall and quickly parked into it, neighing happily at Lapis who didn't manage to catch her. This stall was placed on the left side of the hallway, it was the third stall from the end of the corridor.

   Lapis finally got to Blue’s place, patting her right buttock. “Damn, you’re lucky you always manage to run away from me.” Lapis laughed again. Blue just shook her head and turned her ears backwards so she could hear Lapis a bit better.

   Lapis walked around Blue to her left side and disengaged the girth from the saddle straps, then she pushed up the stirrups and with the saddle pad she removed the saddle from Blue’s back, taking it back to the tack room to its place.

   “Hey, Lapis.” Peridot addressed her when she was passing the blonde on her way back.

   “Yeah?” She turned her head to her friend and noticed the big, black bucket she was bending down for.

   “Wanna go for a ride?” She asked, lifting up the bucket.

   “Nah… Blue is tired after that training for sure… And I'm for today, too.”

   Peridot hummed at that, fishing something in the bucket. “Yeah, whatever… Here, catch!” She urged the other girl and threw a carrot at her.

   Lapis ably caught it and took a bite. “Thanks.” She smacked, grinning.

   Peridot just stared at her, quite disgusted. “Dude… that was for your horse…“

   Lapis stopped chewing, eyes wide. She then shrugged and took another bite, letting her mare take one bite, too, then Lapis bit the carrot once again.

   “Yuh…” Peridot stuck her tongue between her teeth, but chuckled. “You’re disgusting.”

   “What? You wouldn’t eat food after your partner?” Lapis raised her brows, untacking the bridle.

   “A  _partner?”_  Peridot repeated and walked towards Percy’s stall, bucket resting in her arms.

   “Well, yeah. We shared a few kisses.” Lapis smirked, heading back to the tack room, this time with Blue's bridle, chewing the rest of the carrot.

   “And spits, huh? That girl will be jealous if she finds out.”

   “Oh, come on!” Lapis groaned from the tack room, then she walked out. “You’re the one who’s disgusting here.”

   “What-me? I’m not swallowing horse’s spits!“ The girl opposed, opening a stall window and giving one carrot to her Haflinger. “Don’t worry, Percy. Mommy won’t eat your food.”

   “Pff, you’re ridiculous.” Lapis laughed. She took a head collar from Blue’s stall gate and stood in front of her horse. She lifted the halter up and put it onto Blue’s head. Without using a lead rope, she whistled and made Blue follow her.

   “Hey, gimme another carrot.” She waved, walking out the stable with Blue behind her.

   Peridot pulled out one piece of orange vegetable and threw it at Lapis. “I thought you don’t like… c _arrots_.”

   “What?” Lapis turned around, walking backwards.

   Peridot pulled out another carrot and forced it towards her lips. She then opened her mouth and pretended licking the tip of the carrot, raising her eyebrows and giving Lapis a dirty smirk.

   Lapis almost froze on the spot, shaking her head in disbelief. “Yuhh… now who’s disgusting here?” She shook her head again and turned around, clapping her hands and calling her horse to follow her. She ran out of the stable, heading to the grazing meadow, followed by Blue who was trotting right behind her.  
   Lapis opened the rope fence and let her horse walk in so she could graze with other horses in the pasture. Lapis then closed the fence and watched Blue walking towards the herd of horses grazing on the top of the hill where her favorite small maple tree was growing.

<•••>

   “Aren’t you hungry, Rose?“ Pearl spoke suddenly, sitting on her couch in the dark, watching TV. She stroked her cat that was lying in a comfortable position in Pearl’s lap, purring faintly.

   Pearl looked down at the satisfied cat enjoying the night in her owner’s lap and massaging her with her paws.

   “I’m taking that as no.” She giggled and rubbed her cat’s nape.

   A sudden phone ringing broke the silence, making Pearl wonder who might be calling at 10 PM. Pearl reached her hand and took the phone carefully enough not to make her cat change her position.

   “Hello?” Pearl picked the phone, waiting for a response.

   “Hello, Pearl.” A familiar voice came out of the other side.

   “Oh, hi, Garnet.” She smiled to herself. “What’s on your chest?”

   “You know I would never call this late, but I was wondering how it went back at the stable.”

   Pearl lost her breath for a moment, replaying the whole afternoon in her head – as if she wasn't thinking about it all night already. “Oh? It went well… I guess.”

   “Did Lapis enjoy your gift?” Her friend asked, interested, as the one who actually had the idea of giving it to Lapis.

   Pearl bit her lip, seeing Lapis’ reaction in her mind. “She… liked it. She didn’t even want to keep it.” Pearl chuckled.

   “See, I told you.” Pearl couldn‘t see it, but she could sense Garnet smiling.

   “How about the rest of the meeting? Did anything interesting happen?” The dark-skinned woman asked eagerly.

   ' _Well, everything_ …‘ Pearl thought. She had a few words on her tongue, but she was shy to tell Garnet, even when she knew that she could trust her. If she told Amethyst, it probably wouldn’t come out well.

   “Actually, she…” She inhaled and spoke calmly. “Asked me out.”

   There was silence for a while, but Garnet managed to answer before Pearl could think that she hung up. “Congratulations then.”

   There was silence once again, but then Pearl jumped into the air in horrify as she heard a loud party blowout sound.

   “Jesus Christ, Garnet.” She shook her head and patted her chest to calm herself down. “Don’t do such things to me.”

   “I’m just happy for you.” The woman laughed softly, removing the blowout from her lips. “Okay, Pearl. It was nice hearing you again, but I have to go now. Take care and good night to you.”

   “Will do. Thanks, Garnet.” Pearl wished Garnet good night as well and then hung up. She sank deeper into her couch, making Rose shift in her lap and change her position to more comfortable one.

   “So, what we got here?” Pearl asked herself and took a remote control, changing channels and ending up on TV news. She watched it for a bit, but found nothing that interesting. All those news were about accidents, politics and violence. Why in a name of God couldn't there be just a few good news, Pearl wondered, yet at the exact moment as Pearl was about to switch the TV off, she managed to stop herself and watched the screen. Something caught her attention. She put the remote control back down slowly, listening carefully to the TV.

   It said that next week's Thursday there will be one of the most beautiful Perseid showers that happened in the past few years; and more likely there will be nice weather, too. The Beach City observatory owner declared that the observatory will be open all night for the general public to see hundreds of falling stars.

   When Pearl was a little girl, she loved watching stars, recognizing constellations, building paper spaceships and wishing for getting a job as an astronaut and travel to the other side of the universe; to the infinity and beyond. She still owned the telescope that she got from her parents when she was eight years old. Damn, she really loved that fancy, expensive thing.

   “Look at that, Rose.“ She pointed at the TV, but Rose’s response was just an annoyed cat expression. “Oh, come on. What’s that face about? It will be absolutely gorgeous!” Pearl grinned widely, already making big plans for that night.

   “I’m gonna ask Garnet and Amethyst. What do you think, would they like to go?” She looked back at her ragdoll cat, but received the same response. “Okay, I got you. It’s perfectly clear.”

   Pearl reached out for the calendar standing on the cabinet right next to the couch. She turned the page to next week and smiled. “Yeah, we could totally do it. It’s on our together Thursday.” The girl searched out for a pen in the cabinet drawer and circled next Thursday with it.

   “Looking forward to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Peridot found out about Lapis' crush on Pearl  
> • Pearl thought about visiting an observatory and watching a meteor shower
> 
> ♦ 3rd week


	6. What Connects Us

   “Okay, I’ll pick you guys at eight.” Pearl agreed, looking out a window at the cloudy sky. “… Hopefuly the weather gets better.”

   “It surely does.” Garnet's voice echoed from the other side of the line.

   Pearl smirked. “You’re the best weather station in the world, Garnet.”

   “Thank you, Pearl.” The dark-skinned woman laughed to the phone. “See you around, dear.”

   “See you.” Pearl hung up. She sighed and leaned her palms against the window frame. Her forehead met the glass, but Pearl hissed in pain and pulled back immediately, finding out about another bruise. She had several scratches and bruises on her body, and always found other ones as the time was passing. These bruises were reminding her of Lapis – the girl who saved her, the girl who was worried about her and did her best to keep Pearl calm. Pearl wondered what could be Lapis up to right now. She was always wondering. She was wondering if Lapis was thinking about her. Probably she was not; she certainly had better things to do than thinking about some girl.

   A soft meow came from the ragdoll cat as it sat down next to Pearl's feet. Several times, the cat then brushed its snow-white head against Pearl’s calf and started purring.

   Pearl looked down at her cat and breathed out a smile. She reached out her hands and carefully she took her ragdoll into her arms. Rose put her grey front paws onto Pearl’s chest and brushed her head against her owner again, purring louder.

   Pearl suddenly remembered the woman she was once in love with, but unfortunately, the love for her was just an unrequited one, since Pearl knew that the woman loved someone else. But before the woman gave her son a birth, she gave Pearl a kitten for her birthday; a cute, little ragdoll kitten that Pearl fell in love with at the first sight. Her cat was now the only one who was reminding Pearl of her beloved friend who passed away and so she named her Rose.

   “What are we gonna do now, Rosie?” Pearl nuzzled her cat and pressed her lips to its smooth head, kissing her and rubbing her neck.

   Rose then reached her paw and put it onto Pearl’s mouth, patting it several times and making the girl chuckle. She kissed Rose’s paw and then slowly removed it from her lips, stroking her pet again.

   All of a sudden, sadness overcame Pearl as she remembered the woman, her smile slowly dropped, just as her eyes. Pearl made her way to the living room and sat down onto the couch. She reached out for the remote control and switched the TV on, searching for a music channel. When she finally found one, she leaned her back against the sofa and closed her eyes, letting a sorrowful sigh escape her lips. The ragdoll, sitting in her lap, looked up at her and meowed, but Pearl didn’t look back at her. The cat meowed again, trying to get Pearl’s attention, but the girl still didn’t move. Her brows furrowed. She sniffed, biting hard at her lip.

 _'Why did you have to leave?’_ She sniffed again and opened her watery eyes, still thinking about the woman. Pearl knew that there was no point in crying about people who passed away. She knew that crying won’t bring them back. They probably wouldn’t even want people to cry for them, since they’re in peace, in place where they belong, watching over us. ' _Come on, you can't cry about her all the rest of your life._ ' Pearl told herself, letting go an exhale. ' _You're gone, in some better place…_ '

   Rose stood up and with her front paws she leaned against Pearl’s face, meowing at her again. Pearl opened her eyes and found her little Rose staring at her with her light blue eyes and purring. Pearl couldn’t resist a smile. She took her cat and stretched her arms, picking the cat up into the air, and giggled.

   “Though… I know you’re still here.”

<•••>

   It’s time to pick up the others. Pearl grabbed car keys and headed to the parking lot. She unlocked her old car and opened the door, entering it and sitting down onto the seat, she then reached out for a seat belt and buckled herself up. Pearl turned on the engine, released the handbrake and pressed the gas pedal. The car slowly moved forward and Pearl turned the steering wheel to the left so she could head to the exit of the parking lot situated in the center of the round housing estate.

   First she made her way to Amethyst’s place not far from Pearl’s apartment. It took her about ten minutes to get there and once Pearl arrived, Amethyst was already awaiting her on the parking lot and waving.

   “Hey, P!” The girl greeted as the car stopped in front of her, taking place in the passenger seat. “Hope those clouds will get away before the shower ends.”

   “… Hopefuly.” Pearl sighed and looked out throught the window to see how bad the cloudiness was. Once again Pearl started the car and hit the road to pick up the last passenger.

   Soon, they arrived to Garnet’s place standing on the west side of Beach City town. Garnet lived in a large fancy house with a beautiful English-grass garden, a terrace attached to a pergola and a big garden pool shaped into a bean. Girls loved spending time in the garden, especially when it came to celebrating; birthdays, Christmas or New Year.

   “Maaan.” Amethyst widened her eyes when Pearl stopped right in front of the beige gravel driveway, looking out of the window. “Is it just me or is the house bigger than the last time I saw it?”

   “It is not just you…“ Pearl said, leaned over Amethyst's lap so she could take a look at the house, too.

   Suddenly, a tall, dark-skinned woman with dark glasses on her nose appeared in the house's doorway. A wide smile spread upon her face. She walked down the porch stairs and headed to Pearl’s pickup, then opened the door and entered.

   “Hello, girls.” She greeted them and buckled up. “I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

   “Oh, let me guess.” Pearl started and looked at Garnet through the rear-view mirror with a smirk. “You bought another pool.”

   “Oh-oh, let me!” Amethyst cut in, raising her hand. “You bought a new fancy lodge in mountains!”

   Garnet froze for a moment, then chuckled and shook her head. “No, no. I got us a double swing.”

   Both girls didn’t say anything at that, just remained still. Honestly, they expected something bigger to fit a place like this; something great, something expensive, fancy.

   Amethyst opened her mouth to remark something, but Pearl managed to stop her on time.

   “It’s great, Garnet.” She smiled sheepishly and removed her hand from Amethyst’s lips after a few seconds. “So… are you ready for the trip?”

   “Yes.” Garnet responded with her deep, calm voice and shifted in her seat, leaning into the seat. Amethyst agreed with her and smiled, blinking at Pearl. She then pressed the clutch down, moved the gear stick and pushed down the gas pedal, making the car move.

 

   The observatory wasn’t too far from Garnet’s house. All Pearl had to do was to cross the city labyrinth and get onto the top of the hill where the observatory building was standing. It didn’t take long and they made it to the building and parked near it. The observatory was standing in the middle of nowhere; there wasn’t single tree, house or any other buildings around so nothing was shading the view at the sky from any side. The double-floor building was shaped into  _V_  with a round base in the middle of it. On each wing there were observation domes; the west and the east cupola where people could stargaze through telescopes.

   It was already dark outside. Some clouds faded away, but the sky wasn’t entirely clear yet. Pearl wished the sky gets clear before the main program starts.

   The skinny girl turned the engine off. All three of them then got out of the car, staring at the enormous, glazed building in front of them right across the parking lot. They entered it and headed to the reception, buying tickets and leaving their clothes in a cloak room. The main program was set to 9 PM and so they had more then forty minutes to explore the whole interior.

   First, they headed to the right wing to check on the lab where many kinds of microorganisms were exposed. There also was a simulator of gravity on the Moon or a platform simulating an earthquake and then there were many organic minerals with sheets of detailed descriptions next to each piece. Eventualy girls found out how are meteors, comets, planets and stars formed, what their temperature and colors are, read about how many degrees of earthquake is possible to measure on Earth, they could see Seismic station measuring and recording quakes of earth. Next, they went to check on the facts of planet Earth; how old it is and how all its organisms evolved during all those milliards of years, then they discovered how lava works, what kind of soils other planets have and how their hot core’s are large, then they could touch 3D models of all planets in the Solar system. There were so many things and places to explore, but to see every part of the area, they'd certainly need a bit more time.

   Pearl felt like she was in heaven. And although she already knew about the things they saw, she was still learning new things. She hasn’t been to the observatory for years; a lot changed here, but it was still as interesting and educational as for the last time she was here.

   Right as Pearl‘s watch showed 9 PM, she and her two friends headed to the main hall to listen to a lecture about worm holes, and once the lecture was over, Pearl felt like she couldn't learn anything more, feeling as if her head might explode any second thanks to the amount of knowledge she absorbed.

   Then they went to the west side of the observatory to watch stars and constellations through a telescope. They walked up along a spiral staircase to the cupola’s dark room. They were listening to another lecture about astology and watching stars together. In the end, the sky was beautifully clear, except for several tiny clouds yet floating around.

   Girls then decided to go to the meadow spreading nearby the building and watch stars on their own eyes. They headed to the reception downstairs. Pearl was happilly skipping along the hallway on her way to the main hall, but when she passed a corner, she accidentaly bumped into someone who was just walking out the laboratory room.

   “Oh no, I’m so sorry, I…“ Pearl heard someone say.

   ' _Wait… that voice. It's…_ ' Pearl looked up. Her two friends just approached her. “Lapis?” Pearl stiffened on the spot immediately. She must have been dreaming – it really was her.

   “Pearl?” Lapis seemed surprised. “… I-um, I-I‘m sorry, I didn’t… are you okay?” She then approached Pearl and reached her hand carefully, as if she wanted to take Pearl by her hand.

   “I-it was my fault, I…“ Pearl stuttered, rubbing at her lightly damaged shoulder. “I shoul’ve been looking where I was going.”

   Amethyst then walked around her taller friend to find out who was this stranger standing in front of her, but froze as soon as she saw her face.  “Hey, P, are you o… w-wait a minute. Aren’t you the girl from that horse show?” She asked, recognizing Lapis. Garnet put her hand onto Pearl’s shoulder.

   Lapis blushed a little and laced her fingers together. “Y-yeah, that’s… Probably me.” She smiled nervously. Garnet then spoke.

   “You did a great job back then, congratulations.” The tall woman nodded.

   For a moment, Pearl felt like she wasn't even there. She stood frozen on the spot, massaging her shoulder with eyes wide open, staring at Garnet and Lapis chatting and Amethyst who was having fun watching Pearl who was entirely flushed. Amethyst then poked Pearl with her elbow with a smirk on her face, eyebrows wiggling. Pearl could do nothing but gaze awkwardly at them; at Lapis. Pearl swallowed.

   “Thank you for taking care of Pearl, she feels much better now.” Garnet then said thankfully, giving Pearl’s shoulder a bit tighter squeeze. Pearl raised her head, finding out that Lapis was looking at her

   “It was nothing. I’m glad she’s okay now.” She then smiled, making Pearl blush even more. “Oh and-uh… nice to meet you. I’m Lapis.”

   Garnet beamed, accepting Lapis’ hand and shaking it gently. “I'm Garnet, pleasure to meet you.”

   Amethyst then joined the meeting and shook Lapis’ hand, too. “Amethyst.”

   The dark-skinned woman cleared her throat and shifted her glasses a bit upper, patting Pearl’s shoulder. She looked at her and whispered. “I think I have a feeling that you'd like to talk. We’ll give you some space.“ Garnet then gently pushed Amethyst forward. The girl resisted at first, but eventualy understood why Garnet did it and left Lapis and Pearl alone.

   Pearl couldn’t move. Her eyes and her mouth were wide open. She stared at Lapis while the girl was watching Garnet and Amethyst leaving. Lapis then turned back to Pearl, making her jump in surprise.

   “You've got nice friends.” Lapis admited. Her voice was sweet and calm, although she still couldn’t believe meeting Pearl at a place like this. What was yet more surprising her was the fact that they met there at the same day and at one time – what a coincidence. It could've been any time and any place. “What a lovely surprise seeing you here.”

   Pearl tittered, rubbing her nape. “Yeah, y-you too… I wasn't expecting meeting you in such a place." Pearl cleared her throat softly. "… I didn’t know you were interested in astronomy.”

   Lapis giggled at that. “To be honest I loved it since I was a little kid.”

   Back then when Pearl was a child, she thought that she was crazy because she loved astronomy. Everyone in kindergarten and elementary school was taunting at her because they thought astronomy was a job and interest for men. She felt alone back then, nobody understood her and nobody wanted to talk to her because she was different and loved different things than other kids in her age, but what Lapis said warmed her heart. Suddenly, Pearl wished she met Lapis sooner.

   Pearl watched Lapis again, scanning every part of her body. Suddenly, she noticed some small shiny thing resting on Lapis' throat. It was a beautiful, small pearl inserted in a little silver cone that was attached to a thin cable chain. Pearl’s eyes shone.

   “The pearl.“ She held her breath, realizing that it was the pearl she gave her.

   Lapis for a moment looked like if she didn't understand, but then she realized what Pearl was talking about. The smaller girl then reached her hand and took the pearl between her index finger and her thumb.

   “Yeah… I asked a friend of mine to fix me a necklace with it. It would be a shame to just throw it into a drawer, don’t you think?” Lapis chuckled.

   The skinny girl just stared at her. She was so astonished by that. She couldn’t even dream about a thing like this happening.

   “It…” Pearl swallowed, trying her best not to get redder. “Suits you.”

   Lapis whispered a small  _thank you_ before they fell into silence, both nervously biting their lips and looking aside.

   Lapis then looked out the glazed wall, thinking. “Would you like to… watch Perseids together?” Lapis asked shyly, forcing herself to look at Pearl who was coincidentally trying to do the same.

   “I’d… like to.” She tittered, cheeks bright red.

   Both girls then headed outside to the meadow and took a seat on a random free bench. They looked up and watched the sky for a while when the first meteor passed the sky, soon followed by another.

   Pearl sighed dreamily and intertwined her fingers in her lap, eyes full of a beautiful light, hope and wishes. Lapis watched her as she was leaning her palms against the the wooden seat. Until now, Lapis thought there was nothing more beautiful than a night sky and stars, but suddenly she felt like something beautiful was sitting right next to her; smiling, stargazing and lightly swinging her legs.

   Another star passed the sky and Pearl pointed at it with a bright grin on her cheeks. “There, another one! Make a wish.” She urged and glanced over at her friend, finding Lapis watching her.

   Embarrassed, Lapis instantly looked away, glad that the darkness was hiding her red cheeks. “Oh, ah… I wish…“

  “No, don’t say it! If you do, it won’t happen.“ She didn’t manage to finish the sentence when Pearl suddenly cut in. 

   Lapis grinned with a snort. “Oh, okay.” She then closed her eyes and wished for something in her mind. She couldn't help it, but had to focus on Pearl rather than on making a wish. Why couldn’t she just merge these two things together?

   “Look, those stars are making a flower-shaped constellation.” Pearl said all of a sudden, grinning, but then she lowered her head. “… I haven’t been to a botanic garden for a while.”

   Lapis looked up at the sky, searching for the potential flower constellation, but then looked back down with raised brows. “Do you like flowers?” She asked shyly, leaning forward against her palms.

   The girl nodded and sighed dreamily. “I love flowers.”

   Lapis then started to think – an idea popped up in her mind. “Well, I think I could show you something way better than a botanic garden.” She puffed her chest, smirk on her face.

   Pearl turned her head to her with interest, although she doubted that there could be anything more beautiful than that. “And what is it?”

   “Come to the stable tomorrow and I’ll show you.” She urged, smiling at the other girl.

   Pearl was in such a state of shock, thinking about going back to that terrifying place again. But if Lapis really meant it, and perhaps knew about Pearl's phobia, the place she wanted to show her must’ve been worth seeing in that case.

   “I don’t know…“ Pearl blushed and pulled her head back between her shoulders.

   “Don’t worry, it’s not inside the stable. The place is near by.” The equestrian assured her. “I swear to you that there's no better place in the world than that.”

   Pearl raised her head and looked at Lapis. Could she trust her? Well, Lapis saved her, and she was wearing a necklace with the pearl she gave her. Lapis couldn't be a bad person, Pearl thought. Perhaps she could give it a chance.

   “… Okay.” She nodded. “When may I come then?”

   “It's practically up to you. I'll be there the whole day.” She gave Pearl a smile.

   Pearl hummed at that. “So, how about afternoon?”

   “It's settled then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst visited Beach City observatory  
> • Lapis met Pearl’s friends for the first time
> 
> ♦ 4th week (Thursday)
> 
>  **PS:** Thanks to **emma20020226** (emma20020226.tumblr.com) for the observatory idea and also thanks to my friend **Pavel** for visiting a real observatory with me! ;)


	7. The Promised Land

   ‘ _So, here we are again._ ’ Pearl sighed softly, biting her lip. Gently, she pushed the car brake down to slow down her pickup. The tires were slightly slipping on the pebbled loamy path so Pearl tried to be as careful as possible.

   She continued down the hill decorated by large, endless meadows on each side of the trail, and slowly approached the stable. Once she got there, she parked her pickup on one of the gravel parking places.

   Pearl then took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a while, leaning her head against the headrest. She wondered if all of this was actually real, if it really was happening. Being friends with someone so famous seemed so unreal to her, so unbelievable. Was it just luck? Was it destiny? Millions of questions were fogging her mind, never ending thoughts were making her feel dizzy, yet happy and elated. Seeing Lapis, or just being near her, made Pearl’s heart go insane. Pearl even wondered if Lapis was real. She was something like an angel to her; so inviolable, supernatural, uplifting, happy and full of positive, affecting energy. It was like she was born from a pure light. Lapis was too perfect to her. Just the look of her enchanting eyes felt so heavenly, dreamy, making Pearl stare as if she was a holy picture.

   Pearl opened her eyes slowly, making herself stop from having her head in the clouds, and breathed out softly. She then turned the engine off and unbuckled her seatbelt, putting the car keys into her pocket.

   She opened the door, hearing a dog barking. A little Shiba-inu puppy was jumping around Pearl’s car and waving its tail and greeting their guest with loud barking.

   “Oh, hello there.” Pearl closed the door and kneeled down to meet that little barking ball of fur. She tried to rub the puppy’s head, but the Shiba managed to jump right into Pearl’s lap, making her fall onto her back. The dog was waving its curled tail wildly and licking Pearl’s face, not planning to stop. The poor girl couldn’t even take a breath nor get the dog down.

   After a moment of the sweetest terror that has ever happened to her, someone softly giggled, standing not too far from Pearl. “She likes you.”

   Pearl then turned her head, finally getting the dog’s wet tongue away from her face, finding Lapis leaning her side against the wide doorframe, arms crossed on her chest and a dog lead tossed over her neck.

   “Yeah…” Pearl giggled. “Probably.”

   “… Pumpkin, get off of her.” Lapis snorted and quickly approached Pearl to help her get out of that adorable trap. She offered Pearl her hand and helped her up onto her feet.

   “Are you okay?” Lapis dusted the ash off of her; her back, her shoulders, her… chest. She stopped, pulling back. Her cheeks grew hot.

   They both flushed red as their eyes met. They were so close to each other and none of them even noticed that just yet.

   “Yeah, I’m fine.” Pearl added after a brief moment of silence, dusting the loam from her hair.

   “Great.” The equestrian tittered, forgetting she was still watching Pearl. Lapis then pulled a dog collar out of her pocket and attached it to the lead. “Ready for a walk?”

   Pearl nodded without a word, wide smile danced on her cheeks. She watched Lapis as she was giving the dog its collar. Immediately, the small dog started biting it and trying to get rid of it.

   Pearl let out a chuckle, cupping her mouth. “She’s sweet.”

   “Yeah, and always hungry.” Lapis added and stood up. “Just like me.”

   Pearl couldn’t stop herself from giggling again. “So, where are we going?” She wondered.

   “Let yourself be taken by surprise.” Lapis gave her friend a grin. “You will love it.”

<•••>

   They walked around the stable and headed towards the rope-fenced pasture hill. They then walked upon the length of the fence, along the loamy trail leading up the hill. There were large meadows and fields all around and no visible end in a great distance.

   They walked for fifteen minutes, walking along the path which was dividing the fields. The late afternoon sun was shining, wind blowing calmly and caressing Pearl’s pale cheeks. She decided to stop for a moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, raising her hands and letting the wind stroke her body, her bare arms, cheeks and short hair. Pearl smiled wildly into the wind and enjoyed this amazing moment of freedom.

   After a while, a bark came from Pumpkin’s. The dog stopped and tried to pull Lapis back, staring back at the tall human behind them.

   “What is it?” Lapis turned around to check on what Pumpkin wanted, pulling the lead towards herself, but instead, her eyes clung onto Pearl who was standing several meters away from her with hands raised into the air, eyes closed and a beautiful smile on her face.

   Lapis stared at her. Her eyelids lowered and her lips parted. She was unable to move, watching Pearl closely. She found it nice that Pearl was enjoying little things; things which would any ordinary person ignore – sun shining, wind blowing, leaves fluttering in the breeze, the place where she was. These things were something so common for most people, but for Pearl they were something special, something that she might miss and never feel again.

   “Ah, Lapis! It’s so beautiful up here!” Pearl laughed warmly, turning round and round with hands spread in the air.

   Lapis could do nothing but sigh dreamily, letting her spirit leave her body and travel straight to heaven to warn them about one missing angel. She never felt like this, not even close to this state. This feeling was something new, something strange and amazing and the same time. Lapis had a feeling as if her heart was close to jumping out of her chest; every time she heard Pearl’s sweet voice, every time Pearl said her name, every single time Pearl looked straight into her eyes.

   All of a sudden, there came a bark again, and this time directed to Lapis who was completely lost in her thoughts. Two brief seconds passed and Lapis came back to herself, shaking her head and breathing again.

   “It’s not quite that beautiful as the place I want to show you.” Lapis then grinned. Pearl stopped, looking at Lapis after a long time again.

   “Are you kidding me? This place is like heaven!” The taller girl chuckled, raising her hands once more, looking up to the gold sky. “I was always dreaming about a place like this, but never thought it could actually be real.”

   “Then come with me, you dreamer.” Lapis approached her friend and took her by her hand. “… To the promised land.”

   The sky quite changed since Pearl came to the equestrian area. Now all the trees, leaves, fields and all the hills around them were shining as if they were all made of gold. The sky above their heads was a bit cloudy and all those clouds were turned into dark purple tones, but still there was a sun shining. The crowd of clouds continued further beyond them, but the sky in front of them was somehow mixed into a shade of violet and orange color as if there was a storm coming, but the weather was too calm and harmonic for thunder to be happening.

   Lapis loved weather like this; gold sunbeams shining through the dark storm clouds and illuminating the fields around. She couldn’t imagine anything better than this – maybe just spending time with her horse in such weather, crossing meadows and letting the wind blow through her cyan hair.

   “Come on, we’re almost there.” Lapis spoke into the silence, leading the Shiba and Pearl up another hill. Just before they got to the very top, Lapis stopped and looked straight at her, still holding Pearl by her hand. “Close your eyes.”

   Pearl raised her eyebrows in confusion. “What?” She let out a breathless chuckle, blushing at the contact of their hands.

   “Trust me.” Lapis gave her a genuine smile and squeezed her hand a bit more.

   Pearl gazed at her for few seconds, then breathed out a smile and trustingly closed her eyes, brows still raised. “Okay.”

   Lapis bit her lip and grinned, leading Pearl up the hill. Just a few steps left to get to the top. “Don’t look. We’re almost there.”

   “I’m not looking.” Pearl giggled softly.

   It wasn’t as if Lapis didn’t believe her, but she rather shaded Pearl’s eyes to forbid her from looking – just in case.

   After the pair of last steps, they stopped on the top of the hill. Pearl’s body was shivering impatiently. She wanted to open her eyes.

   “May I look now?” She asked excitedly.

   Lapis slowly removed her hand from her face and nodded. “Take a look.” She said and let go of Pearl’s hand, though she regretted it later.

   Pearl slowly opened her light turquoise eyes, instantly losing her breath. Her eyes widened in amazement, her jaw dropped.

   “Lapis…” She gasped. There was a extremely large, endless sunflower field spreading right under their noses. There were so many flowers all around; too many. There were many of lofty yellow flowers shining like a full moon at midnight, like a sun in the sky in the middle of a day. There were so many of them. Pearl felt like she was looking straight into the ocean of gold, yet with the dark sky above it, it felt so dramatic and extraordinary, so unreal and special. Pearl couldn’t believe her own eyes, she just stood there breathlessly.

   “So, what do you think?” Lapis squeezed her shoulder graciously, ready for any kind of reaction. She turned her head to Pearl, making herself chuckle after seeing Pearl’s indescribable, amusing expression.

   “I…” Pearl breathed out in disbelief, staring straight ahead. “… I don’t know what to say, I… ran out of words.”

   Lapis giggled, happy that her plan worked out perfectly. “Do you want to go down there?”

   The pale-skinned girl turned her head to Lapis, eyes full of thousands shining stars. “Are you serious?”

   Pearl‘s expression sort of scared her, namely her wide eyes, but she nodded. “I am. So?”

   “Yes!”

   They ran down the hill, led by little Shiba puppy, and stopped right in front of the field. From the top of the hill the sunflowers didn’t seem that big, but now, when those three were standing right in front of them, those plants were surely tall over two meters.

   “I can’t believe my own eyes.” Pearl stared at those giant, yellow flowers. She reached her hand to stroke one large, jagged petal. She almost couldn’t even reach the bloom.

   “Do you wanna walk in?” Lapis then asked, looking at amazed Pearl.

   “Really?” She pulled back slightly. “Isn’t it illegal stepping in someone's field?”

   “It’s not illegal if nobody sees you.” Lapis laughed and rubbed her hands together, entering the field. “Come.”

   The taller girl hesitated, but entered the field with enthusiasm, following Lapis and Pumpkin. Pearl suddenly felt so small; those flowers around her were all so big, so enchanting and beautiful. She felt like she’s already been here, better said this place seemed familiar to her somehow. After a moment she realized why it was so familiar.

   “Isn’t this the field on your phone wallpaper?” She remembered, wading through the plants.

   Lapis then slowed down, almost stopping on the spot, eyes widened. “Yeah… it is.”

   “And-uh… who was that woman in it?” Pearl wondered, nearly bumping into Lapis because of her slow pace, but the girl didn’t respond, instead she continued ahead.

   “Is she some kind of… your idol?” Pearl tried to make another chance to get a response.

   Lapis then stopped completely and stared down at the dirt, sniffing. A sob stuck in her throat. She tried her best not to let tears roll down her cheek.

   “Lapis?” Pearl addressed her softly, quite worried.

   “Yeah…” She sniffed. “She  _was_.”

   “… What happened?” Pearl asked carefully, slowly passing Lapis and facing her.

   The blue-haired girl stared down and didn’t move for a while. She let out a weak, shaky sigh and sniffed again. “It’s my mother… she had an accident while… riding a horse.”

   Lapis sighed, letting a tear appear in the corner of her eye.

   “Lapis…” Pearl took Lapis by her shoulder softly, looking into her tearful eyes. “I... I’m so sorry. I didn't know.”

   “Thanks, but that doesn’t matter now... she wasn’t even my real mom, though.” The equestrian forced a smile.

   Pearl frowned in confusion. “What do you mean – real mom?”

   “… I’m… adopted.” Lapis breathed out and made a brief pause. “It’s just… all my family members are _Blue_ … only I am  _Lazuli_.”

   “But, Lapis… it doesn’t matter if your name’s different… or if you’re adopted. I'm sure she loved you as if you were hers, didn't she?” Pearl tried to comfort her, smiling at her.

   Lapis sniffed for the last time, looking Pearl right into her beautiful eyes, smiling as well. “Just like I loved  _her_.”

   “See, I bet she’s so proud of you, proud of everything you’ve done.” And after that a bark escaped Pumpkin’s mouth as if she agreed. Lapis then giggled and dried her eyes from tears.

   “Thanks, Pearl.” She gave her a honest smile, letting her flushed cheeks be visible to her, not even trying to hide them.

   “That’s the matter of course.”

   Lapis chuckled, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “But that’s enough about me… tell me something about you.” She urged, tilting her head aside and shaking it ahead to continue in the journey.

   “What-me?” Pearl forced a laughter. “There’s nothing interesting about me.”

   “Pff.” Lapis sputtered. “I highly doubt it.”

   Pearl just looked at her with a corner of her eye, biting her lip and letting herself blush, but she said nothing, just continued forward.

   “Okay…” Lapis started. “Sooo… what’s your favorite flower?”

   “Well, that’s a really good question.” Pearl rubbed her nape. She gazed at the gold field spreading all around them, deciding about the right choice. “I don’t know. I love all flowers.”

   “I like lavenders.” Lapis smelled the air as if to smell them.

   “Well…“ Pearl rubbed her chin and looked at Lapis importantly. “Lavenders are not flowers, they’re herbs.”

   “Oh, come on. It’s still a plant!” She laughed and gently nudged Pearl’s shoulder with her own.

   Pearl then let herself blush, nudging Lapis back, making them repeat this several times again while laughing softly

   “Okay, so?” Lapis poked her again. “What’s your favorite flower then?”

   “I think that… maybe a rose… or a carnation.” Pearl shrugged, pushing Lapis again. “And what’s your favorite… color?”

   “Conclusively all shades of blue.” Lapis said proudly, lifting her chin a little. “What’s yours? I bet it’s pink.”

   “How did you know that?” She furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief.

   “Let’s say I’ve got a good eye.” Lapis smirked.

   “You’re right, I do like pink color, yet peach or yellow-green.”

   “Nice palette.” Lapis admitted, grinning.

   They spent the whole way back asking each other about their favorites, poking one another and laughing on their way to the stable. Their eyes were full of tears of joy, their cheeks hurt from laughing, but unfortunately, it all passed so quickly, like if they‘ve just started the journey, although they were gone maybe for like two good hours.

   They continued down the hill along the rope fence as slow as possible, not ready to let the day end this soon, though it was around 7 PM by the time.

   Lapis, Pearl and Pumpkin made their way to Pearl’s old pickup, stopping on the little parking lot. Lapis kneeled down and removed Pumpkin’s green collar and lead, tossing it over her neck again. The puppy was so tired thanks to the long walk that it couldn’t make any more steps. It immediately laid down and started snoring. None of the girls could stop themselves from smirking at that little fluffy ball.

   “She really is a cutie.” Pearl sighed dreamily, watching the little animal’s chest as it was rising up and lowering down.

   “Yeah…” Lapis nodded in agreement.

   “So…” Pearl intertwined her fingers, locking her mouth in a tight line. “I’m gonna go now.”

   Lapis turned to her with a sad face. “Do you... have to go already?”

   “I do…“ She sighed. “Rose is waiting for me.”

   “Rose?”

   “... My cat.” Pearl explained, tittering.

   “I see.” Lapis smirked and nodded. Suddenly, she reached out for something behind her back. “But before you go…“

   Pearl raised her eyebrows, watching Lapis as she was fishing something from behind. Lapis then pulled a small sunflower out, handing it shyly to Pearl.

   The only thing Pearl could do was letting her eyes widen. She lost her breath. “… Lapis.”

   “I owe you this.” Lapis swallowed and licked her dry lips, wondering how Pearl’s expression looked like because Lapis didn’t have courage to look at her after that – but it surely wasn’t anything bad.

   “Oh, Lapis, you shouldn’t have…“ The girl accepted the gift and pressed it against her chest, giving Lapis the most beautiful smile she could. “Thank you.”

   “It was nothing.” Lapis rubbed her nape and finally made herself looked at Pearl, accepting her smile and giving her one back.

   “Would you like me to… drive you home?” Pearl offered and stroked those smooth yellow petals that were leaning against her chest.

   “Oh. No, thank you. I’m staying here tonight.”

   “Here? You have your own room in the barn?” She asked, interested. Lapis then beckoned towards the attic.

   “Yeah. I sleep in the attic.” She shrugged, leaving Pearl in disbelief.

   “But… doesn’t it feel uncomfortable… sleeping on hay?”

   “Not at all.” Lapis grinned. “I’ve got a blanket in there and some pillows, too. It’s actually quite comfy.”

   Pearl lowered her head, imagining what it could possibly look like in there, wondering if she might get there one day. “… Does it feel like home?”

   “… Absolutely.” Lapis blinked, making Pearl blush. “So, um… thank you for today. I-uh, I really had fun.” Lapis admitted.

   “Me too… I wish we could do that more often.” Pearl sighed, looking pleadingly at her blue-haired friend, but wondered if she wasn't asking for much.

   “Well, we could. Lapis proposed. “… Um, would you mind changing phone numbers? So we could agree on something or plan things… what-do you think?”

   “That isn't a bad idea.” Pearl immediately pulled her phone out of her pocket, but then she froze. ' _Am I really doing this?’_

   But then Pearl realized that she could hardly imagine doing something better. Now she had a chance to make a new friend – Lapis Lazuli.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis and Pearl made a journey to sunflower fields  
> • Pearl found out that Lapis was adopted  
> • Lapis told Pearl about her mother's accident
> 
> ♦ 5th week


	8. Sea Fireflies

   Lapis headed to the feed room under the attic with a black bucket in her arms. When she got there, she opened one of the bags standing in a corner of the room and filled the bucket with oat. Then she walked to Blue’s stall and entered it with a bright smile on her face. Blue was standing there, her side turned to Lapis, and watched Lapis with a corner of her eye as she poured the oat into a food trough. Blue then immediatelly approached the trough and started to swallow the oat. She crunched the grains for a moment, swallowed the mouthful and then filled her mouth with another batch.

   Lapis hummed and smiled at her, patting Blue’s strong neck. “See you later, baby girl.” She said softly. She was standing there for a while, watching Blue as she wad enjoying her food, and then left the stall, closing the gate behind herself quietly enough not to disturb Blue while she was eating. She dropped the bucket next to the stall gate and looked back at her horse once more.

   Lapis was still smiling. She was smiling since the daybreak, since she woke up. She had no actual idea why was she constantly smiling whole day like that. Even Peridot wondered if Lapis wasn’t sick, but she wasn’t. She was just happy. She was going to meet Pearl this evening again and she was so looking forward to it. Recently, she couldn’t think of anything nor anyone else but her.

   Weeks passed by and they have already spent several long days together, having a lot of fun since it was warm summer and there were still plenty of time to spend together. Lapis loved it. They both did. They always found some free minute just to talk to each other on a phone or see one another for just one short hour during the whole day.

   Pearl was so excited about Lapis that she dared skipping some of the together Thursdays with Garnet and Amethyst, and then there was Lapis who totally forgot to focus on her training.

   Today, Pearl had something special in her mind; something she knew that Lapis will certainly love and enjoy. But she wanted to keep that as a surprise for her, just like Lapis kept the sunflower field in secret.

   The whole day was passing deadly slow, but Lapis ably endured all those tormenting, endless hours, although she was keeping a smile on her face all day long. Now it was time to meet Pearl. Finally!

   Lapis finished cleaning the stalls and then made her way home to get herself a hot shower. After that, she got into her car and headed to one of the Ocean Town’s beaches where they were supposed to meet.

   The sky was already darkened, yet not entirely, and Lapis got to the meeting place right on time. Pearl was already there, awaiting for Lapis’ arrival with fingers intertwined on her chest and a blissful smile on her cheeks. Lapis honked at her and parked the car beside the road. She unbuckled the seatbelt and with a locking sound she got out of her car, closing the door and heading to the sea shore where Pearl was standing and eagerly waiting for Lapis to come.

   “Hey, Lapis.” She waved, head shyly cringed between her shoulders.

   Lapis approached her and bent down in her waist, whirling her hand in circular motions, ending up with her hand straightened and palm turned up to Pearl. “Milady.”

   Pearl giggled and let her cheeks darken, bowing slightly. “What a gesture.”

   They both then let out a half-suppressed laugh, then she lost it and bursted into laughter, letting tears well up in her eyes. Pearl soon followed.

   The skinny girl inhaled deeply and tried to calm herself down, her cheeks hurt from grinning. “So, did you bring what I wanted?”

   Lapis gingerly slowed down, finally looking at Pearl and wiping her eyes. She then nodded and pushed her blue main aside from her neck so Pearl could see the top part of Lapis’ swimsuit tied up in a ribbon at the back of her neck.

   “Perfect.” Pearl smiled.

   They wandered along the sea shore for a while, leaving footprints in wet sand as they walked barefoot, holding shoes in their hands, chatting and laughing.

   “I’ve never been to night swimming before.” Lapis admitted excitedly.

   Pearl giggled and turned her head to her friend. “You’re gonna love it. And actually, it’s not quite as pretty as the thing I want to show you.”

   “Oh, well.” Lapis raised her dark brows and blushed, tilting her head slightly aside. “I wonder what it is.”

   Pearl gave her the most beautiful smile she could; the one and only smile that always made Lapis melt. “Let youself be taken by surprise, but before that… you have to close your eyes.” Pearl commanded and made Lapis stop, holding her shoulder and waiting for Lapis to close them. Lapis smiled at the words Pearl used; the same exact ones she said back when they visited the sunflower field.

   “Fine.” She let out in a pert voice.

   The taller girl then gently took Lapis by her hand and led her forward, making sure and checking almost every second if Lapis really wasn’t looking.

   It took about a minute to get to the place where Pearl wanted them to be. She stopped. She took Lapis’ other hand into hers.

   “Keep your eyes closed.” She ordered softly.

   “Oh, come on. I wanna look.” Lapis groaned, but chuckled, eyes still closed. “Where are we anyway? I can hear the ocean nearby.”

   Pearl, who was turned towards Lapis, carefully made one step backwards and led her friend forth along with herself without answering. She then made another step, another and another. Slowly, carefully she continued, finally feeling cool sea water above her ankles. They continued further, deeper into the sea, until the wavy surface reached the lower half of their calves, then Pearl stopped.

   “Ready?” The skinny girl asked in whisper.

   Lapis nodded impatiently, grinning. “Yes.”

   “Take a look then.” Was the last sentence before Lapis completely lost her breath after looking down and openening her eyes. They were surrounded by a beautiful bright blue light that was encircling them, lining with the sea shore along its entire lenght. It was as if there were thousands of blue, shining bulbs right under the sea surface, irradiating them from below.

   Lapis gasped, she couldn’t catch her breath. “Pearl…” She squeezed Pearl’s hands firmly, absolutely excited. “What… what are these?”

   Pearl just laughed at that, watching Lapis’ amazed, unbelieving expression. “These are called bioluminescent plankton.”

   “And this is real?” Lapis stared down at the illuminated water, completely frozen and unable to blink even once.

   Pearl laughted softly again. “Yeah.”

   “But how? Are these some kind of… sea fireflies?” Lapis then let go of Pearl’s hands and bent down to reach the water.

   “I suppose they work like a solar lamp. During a day, they absorb as much light as possible, and during night, they just emit the obtained energy they got from sunlight.” She explained, dabby.

   “… This is so beautiful…” Lapis carefully touched the shining water surface, in effort not to startle these mini creatures. “How could I never notice them before?”

   “Oh well, that’s very simple.” Pearl smirked and rubbed her chin importantly, closing her eyes. “You’re watching the night sky too much. You should search for the beauties of Earth sometimes, too.”

   “From now on… I will.” Lapis sighed and sank her hands under water, perceiving the plankton brushing her skin and tickling her faintly, making her hands shine blue.

   Pearl then watched her. She stared dreamily at Lapis’ childlike expression full of happiness and joy, how she watched the shining plankton and how she was shaking her head in disbelief in every ten seconds just to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming

   Pearl sighed quietly. 'Stars…  _she’s so beautiful…_ ‘ With lowered eyelids, she gazed at Lapis, at her sparkling eyes and pure thrill radiating from her lips. But Pearl managed to stop melting for her before she could actually colapse.

   “So, um…” She cleared her throat. “Ready for night swimming?”

   It took Lapis a moment before she looked up at her, but responded. “Like never.”

   Then, they took their clothes off and left it nearby the shore, far enough so the water couldn’t reach it and soak it completely.

   The one who entered the open sea first was Pearl. She had her turquoise one-pieced swimsuit on with a small yellow star placed in the center of her chest. She continued deeper into the water until the surface reached her thighs.

   “You coming, Lapis?” She waved at her, called her from the distance.

   Lapis nodded and quickly she tied up her hair in a tiny ponytail. Some hair was too short and couldn’t even reach the back of her head so it just hung down and lined Lapis’ round jaw. Lapis was wearing her light blue bikini with the top part tied up in a bow. Both pieces of her swimsuit had a dark triangle on them, looking as if it was one big parted rhombus.

   Lapis stepped into the water and stopped for a while, just to enjoy the shining plankton surrounding her ankles. She smiled, giving the sea fireflies one last look and then heading straight to Pearl.

   Pearl giggled when Lapis came to her. “You should come here more often I guess.”

   “We.” Lapis corrected her and let a cute smile appear on her lips. “ _We_  should come here more often.”

   Pearl blushed a little and looked aside, making a brief moment of silence between them. She felt chills all over her body, but not because of the cool water. She knew exactly what the source was.

   She still couldn’t believe that she was actually here, with Lapis – practically with a celebrity. She could barely only dream about something like this and still she couldn’t admit to herself that this was really happening.

   And one of the things that were keeping Pearl amazed was that Lapis was still wearing the necklace with pearl she gave her. It really suited her and nicely contrasted with her tanned skin. Actually, everything on her made Pearl’s heart stop and her knees always became jelly because of it; because of her smile, because of her sweet voice, because of...

   “–Hello?” Lapis waved her hand right in front of Pearl’s nose while she was staring to god knows where.

   Pearl cleared her throat and rubbed her neck in embarrassment, shaking her head slightly. “Oh-um, sorry, I-was-just…”

   “It‘s fine.” Lapis assured her and grinned. “So, let’s go?”

   Pearl hummed inquiringly like if she missed something, but answered eventually. “Oh-yeah. Let’s-let‘s go.”

   They swam to the deep, but just far enough so they could touch the sand with their toes, to a reasonable distance from the shore. They then laid down onto their backs and let their bodies float on the ocean waves, silently breathing and staring up at the sky.

   “… Do you know what’s funny?” Lapis asked after a moment of silence.

   “What?” Pearl let out a soft, calm voice, turning her head to Lapis slightly. Water then started pattering against her ear.

   The equestrian giggled and turned to the other girl, too. “That you can watch stars and swim at the same time.”

   Pearl breathed out a smile and looked back at the night sky. “Yeah… you’re right.”

   They went silent again, but this silence wasn’t a silence of awkwardness, it was a harmonic silence. Silence in which none of them said one single word, there were thousands of words that they were sharing with one another. They didn’t have to talk, feeling the presence of the other made both of them feel as if they already knew everything about one another, although it wasn’t entirely true. Everytime they met, they both fetl like they knew each other for so long, like they’ve already met, maybe in some past lives.

   “… Pearl?” Lapis addressed her with a low voice suddenly.

   Pearl blinked. “Yes?”

   It took Lapis a few moments before she found courage to speak again, but she managed to do it in the end. She opened her mouth slowly. “… Are you... happy?”

   This kind of a question quite surprised Pearl. She wondered why Lapis asked her this.

   She was. She was very happy, especially when she was with Lapis, and sad when she was not. What was she supposed to answer then?

   “Yes… yes, I-am.” She breathed out softly, but then they fell into silence again for a few, brief moments.

   “… Are  _you_?” Pearl asked her back, but didn’t receive a responce right away. She then worriedly looked at Lapis and studied her expression, but it didn’t seem much positive at that moment. Pearl wondered what was taking her so long to answer, but suddenly, a beautiful smile curled up on Lapis’ cheeks.

   “Yes.” She smiled even wider, giving Pearl an honest look and moving her arms slowly over the surface as if she was making snow angels. “I don’t even know if I’ve been this happy before.”

   ‘ _Before? Before we met?_ ’ Pearl wondered. She widened her eyes and stopped breathing for several seconds, staring still at her friend. “Do you… really mean that?”

   Lapis blinked and nodded gingerly, but she didn’t share her look with the other girl. “I do…“

   Pearl suddenly had a strange feeling a bit teasing her stomach, however, this feeling didn’t hurt her, it made her want to cry, scream and also rejoice.

   Slowly, she decided to stop floating on the water surface, dropping her feet onto the sand. Lapis turned her head to Pearl in confusion and raised her brows.

   “Pearl?” She addressed her, also dropping her feet down, standing on the ground now. She didn’t even give Pearl some space to decide what to say and she approached her immediately, standing so close to her and watching her worriedly. Did she say something wrong? She thought she said something meaningful rather than something that would hurt Pearl.

   She tilted her head so she could see Pearl’s face. She furrowed her eyebrows, seeing Pearl’s face distort, noticing tears appearing in the corners of her light blue eyes.

   “Pearl, what happened?” Lapis reached her hand, but wasn’t brave enough to wipe her eyes from those tears. Pearl then did it herself.

   “I’m just…“ She sniffed and finally grinned at her. “I’m just really glad I’m here.”

   “… Oh, Pearl.” Lapis gave her a smile back, longing for touching her hand, but she was too afraid to do so, though it wouldn’t be the first time she held her hand. “You scared me. I thought I said something wrong.” She sighed with a relief.

   Pearl shook her head faintly with a shy chuckle. “I’m sorry.” She sniffed.

   “Please, don’t be.” Lapis asked gently, sighing softly. “Oh, Pearl… if only you could just imagine how happy  _I am_ to be here, too.” She admitted, finally taking her courage and taking Pearl by her slender hand.

   The skinny girl sniffed again, letting a tiny giggle escape her lips. She squeezed their hands a bit tighter, enjoying the warmth of Lapis’ palm.

   “But do me a favor, okay?” Lapis’ grin widened. “Stop crying, please. It makes me cry myself when I see someone like that.”

   “Yeah… I’m sorry.” Pearl apologized and wiped her tears, although her hand was wet from the salty sea water, it didn’t help much.

   “Don’t be sorry, Pearl.” Lapis repeated, keeping a smile on her face. She rubbed the back of Pearl’s hand with her thumb gently, making Pearl snicker the sweetest way which only she could do. Lapis blushed deeply at that, wanting to kiss Pearl immediatelly, even though she knew that she would stop Pearl from that cute giggling by doing it. Perhaps another time, but was it even possible? What would Pearl think? Lapis suddenly started feeling quite nasty. How could she afford thinking about uch things?

   “Um…” The blue-haired girl cleared her throat carefully, letting go of Pearl’s hand. “Are you… free this weekend? We could invent something to do together again.”

   “You know I‘ll always find time for you.” She blinked slowly, gazing into Lapis’ dark eyes which were sparkling with hope.

   They swam in the sea for several long minutes then, wondering what they could do on this Saturday, splashing one another with cool water. This night was extremely long and short at the same time. They both wished they could stay a bit longer, but it was already too late and they both soon started to become tired because of today’s adventure, ready to meet their warm beds, peacefully fall asleep and sleep until noon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis joined Pearl at night swimming  
> • girls revealed the beauty of sea world
> 
> ♦ 5th–9th week
> 
>  **PS:** Thanks to **leafy-socrates** (leafy-socrates.tumblr.com) for the bioluminescent plankton idea! ;)


	9. So Close

   “Come on, come on! Quickly!” Lapis grabbed Pearl by her wrist and ran towards the one and only house standing in the middle of nowhere. They ran to the very end of the empty street and hid from the rain on the unknown house’s porch. There was a bench and a few withered flowers standing. This wooden house was old, quite ramshackle and unkempt just at the first look at it.

   Pearl pulled her sweatshirt hood down and fixed her wet, messy hair. Lapis leaned her back and elbows against the porch rail.

   “We did it.” Lapis gulped with a grin, breathing fast after running from that rain. Pearl approached her and leaned against the rail next to Lapis, crossing arms on her chest and trying to get warm. The air rapidly changed since it started to rain.

   “Yeah.” Pearl giggled. She turned her head towards the street and watched raindrops falling onto wet asphalt, making bigger and bigger puddles with every fallen drop.

   The skinny girl shivered when a massive wave of cold washed her body. She turned her head back and hid her hands into her sleeves, then put them into her armpits, closing her eyes with a sigh.

   Lapis looked at her friend and crossed her arms on her chest, too. “Are you okay, Pearl?”

   The girl swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, just a bit cold.”

   Lapis hummed at that. She scanned Pearl from top to bottom, realizing that she was all soaked to the bone and trembling. Lapis grabbed the hem of her black leather jacket then, rubbing it with her thumbs, biting her lip, thinking of lending it to Pearl, then after a moment she started to unzip her jacket slowly.

   Pearl carefully looked at her with a corner of her eye as Lapis pulled one of her arms out of the sleeve, followed be the other one. While Lapis was slowly undressing, Pearl noticed the girl‘s well trained abs hidden under her skin-tight undershirt, noticing her biceps that appeared on her arms as well.

   Pearl lost her breath and immediately turned to a side. She then shaded her eyes so she couldn’t see Lapis and her undressing process, but it didn’t help her for too long because Lapis stood in front of her and wrapped her jacket around Pearl's shoulders, fixing the sleeves so they fit her.

   “Lapis, what are you doing? You’re gonna get cold.” Pearl objected, but then her gaze accidentally slid down to Lapis’ belly. Pearl swallowed hard and stopped breathing for a second. She couldn’t make herself get her eyes away.

   “I’m not.” Lapis smiled, giving Pearl’s shoulder gentle squeeze which made Pearl look back up at her. “I don’t want  _you_  to get cold. You’re all soaked.”

   “B-but…” Pearl stuttered. “You’ve got just an undershirt.”

   Lapis laughed softly and leaned back against the porch rail, followed by Pearl’s gaze. “I'm used to cold.”

   “Ah-hah…” Pearl nodded slowly and turned her head forward, trying not to be too conspicuous by staring at Lapis’ body and scanning her every muscle. She started to wonder where did she get these, and that was the only thing that she was thinking about the next five minutes.

   Lapis suddenly pulled herself away from the railing and headed towards the door, reaching out her hand. “Do you think someone lives in there?”

   “Hard to tell.” Pearl sighed and looked into a window, but there was dark inside to see anything.

   Lapis slightly knocked on the door, but didn’t receive any response. She tried it again, this time she knocked a bit louder. Nothing again.

   This house seemed really old, however, it didn‘t mean that nobody lived in there. Lapis approached one of the dusty windows, she shaded her eyes and looked inside the house.

   “Hm… seems like no one’s home.” Lapis rubbed her chin, thinking. Then she stood in front of the rotten door and took a deep breath. She was standing there for a moment, like a statue, staring at the closed door.

   Pearl had no idea what was she doing, but then she jumped into the air in horrify as Lapis kicked into the door with and made them open.

   The equestrian dusted her hands and cleared her throat, smiling. “Doors open!” She exulted and turned to Pearl, but Pearl just stood there with dropped chin.

   “Are you serious?!” The skinny girl whispered aloud hysterically. “You’re not gonna break in, are you?”

   The girl snorted. “Oh, come on, Pearl. There’s no one in there.” She assured the other one and placed her hands onto her own hips.

   “Lapis, I…” Pearl squeezed the jacket a bit more. “I’m not sure about that.”

   Lapis sighed quietly, rolling her eyes. She came to Pearl and stood in front of her, looking into her worried eyes.

   “This house is abandoned, Pearl. Nobody can catch us in there… let’s just sit inside until the rain stops, hm?” She gave Pearl’s shoulders a tender squeeze and smiled at her.

   Pearl couldn’t oppose to that sweet face. Lapis really cared about her; she just wanted them to outlast the rain in a dry, comfortable place where they could warm up. Pearl couldn't refuse such a polite gesture, could she?

   She glanced over at the street, realizing that the rain probably won’t stop any soon. Even when they were hidden on the porch, it was still a bit raining on them. Pearl then gave up and agreed, and with accepting Lapis’ hand she let herself be led inside.

   It was cold there, but not as much as outside. The place smelled strangely. Curtains were shut, there was dark and silence all around them. The interior was really old and gray, buried under tons of dust.

   Pearl entered a room which seemed to be a living room and sat onto a sofa, crossing her arms and legs and mentally trying to stop them from trembling.

   Lapis followed her and entered the living room, too. She leaned her side against the large, door-less entrance and looked at Pearl. She was watching her as she was trembling and trying so hard to avoid it, but unsuccessfully. Lapis sighed and crossed her arms on her chest. “Wish I could give you something more to warm up faster.”

   Pearl sniffed, wiping her nose. She lifted her legs up and pressed them against her chest. “Thanks for your care, Lapis.” She gave her a smile which immediately turned Lapis’ cheeks red.

   The equestrian glanced round the room, looking for a blanket or something that could help Pearl get warm faster, but everything was under dust, she almost couldn’t recognize any single thing in the house. Lapis then decided to check the entire floor, however, she couldn’t find anything. She thought that bedroom might be on the second floor, but she was a little bit scared to go there, since there was dimness and a dead silence in the house.

   “… I’m sorry, I couldn’t find anything.” Lapis growled and sat down onto the couch next to Pearl.

   Pearl just gave her a confused look, furrowing her brows sorrowfully. “Why are you apologizing?” She asked softly.

   Lapis rubbed her forehead and eyebrows, disappointed with herself. “I wanted to help you.”

   “But… you did.” She shook her head in disbelief and then she tilted her head aside to see into Lapis’ face.

   “But you must be freezing… if I could just find something!“ She hit her thigh with her fist and shook her head. Then she sighed and leaned her elbows against her knees, thinking, supporting her chin with the heels of her palms. “… I could give you my undershirt. It might help a little.” Lapis then looked at her, but Pearl’s reaction was just widened eyes and red cheeks.

   “W-what?” Pearl breathed out without moving a muscle, staring at the other girl. “You must be freezing more than I am. Just look at you! You’ve got bare arms and shoulders and… throat.” Pearl bit her lip, making herself turn her head away from Lapis. She felt embarrassed, her cheeks were so hot, although she was really cold.

   “I’m not freezing. I’ve got warm hands.” Lapis checked her palms and felt nothing but warmth, then she turned back to Pearl, but she had her back turned to Lapis.

   “… Pearl?” Lapis addressed her softly, shifting closer to her. The girl glanced over at her, but just a little.

   “Hm?” She raised her eyebrows. After a moment, she felt a freezing wave of air that washed her again. She trembled at that and sniffed, wiping her nose again.

   Lapis swallowed and lowered her eyes. She wanted to go closer. She wanted to warm her, but she was shy, she was scared and she felt embarrassed, but she really wanted to help Pearl somehow and so she then took her courage and cleared her throat. “… Give me your hand.” Lapis urged, a bit nervous, and offered Pearl her own.

   After a moment of hesitancy, Pearl turned back to Lapis and slowly she put her hand into hers, still trembling, though she wasn’t sure if it was because of the weather now.

   Lapis hid the other‘s hand into her warm palms and then hesitantly forced her lips towards them, breathing a wave of hot air at them. She repeated it several times, again and again. Her lips were so close and with every next breath closer and closer. She could almost touch Pearl’s skin with them, but she knew that she couldn’t do it. Pearl was something so noble to her, someone who she felt so honored to be near to, someone almost untouchable, someone so tender and fragile whom could be easily broken.

   She pulled back and whispered, looking Pearl deep into her eyes. “… Is that better?”

   Pearl suddenly felt cold again as Lapis pulled away from her. She felt like as if she was an ice cube thrown into snow, into freezing arctic water. It made her whole body shake again. It was even worse than sitting in that ditch because there she didn’t feel the cold so intensively. Well, she wasn’t even thinking about it back then; she was just lying there and waiting for someone to notice her.

   “Yeah… it’s better.” She let out tremblingly, nodding, longing for Lapis’ hot breath spreading upon her hand again. She sniffed.

   Lapis watched her as her body became shaking again and wondered what to do. She couldn’t keep breathing the air at her hands forever, her head would start spinning then and it wouldn’t be good for her health.

   She hesitated, but in the end she shifted yet closer to Pearl, slightly touching her. She got an idea, but she wasn't sure if Pearl would accept it. Lapis wanted to wrap her arms around her shoulders and keep her warm. That would be maybe the best way to stop Pearl's body from shivering. “… Would you mind if…” She bit her lip, lifting her arms and offering them to her friend, trying to make an eye contact, but it was really hard at that moment for her, and so was for Pearl.

   Pearl was almost for one hundred percent sure what Lapis wanted to do. One half of Pearl accepted that, but the other half wasn’t that sure about it. Still, Lapis was a human whom she didn’t know that well yet, but Lapis already helped her so many times and she didn’t even had to. And yet she wanted to help.

   The skinny girl then accepted her offer, although she still was a bit unsure. Pearl swallowed nervously and moved closer to Lapis, letting her head lean against Lapis’ shoulder and Lapis‘ bare arms be wrapped around her shoulders.

   “Wish I could have your blanket right now, Lapis.” Pearl sighed, but grinned, finally feeling some warmth.

   Lapis giggled softly. “I’m your blanket now… if you don’t mind?”

   “I don’t.” She lowered her eyes. “It’s nice…”

   Lapis let her head lie down onto Pearl’s and let out a soft sigh, making Pearl’s peach hair flutter a little.

   The taller girl breather out, lowered her body and let her head shift lower Lapis’ bare shoulder. “… Why are you even doing this?”

   “What do you mean?” Lapis tilted her head to see Pearl’s face, eyebrows raised in confusion.

   “Why are you helping me like that?” She then looked up at her friend.

   Well, it wasn’t a hard question for her to answer at all, but it was hard for her to actually say it. “What kind of question is that?” Lapis questioned her question, snorting. “Do you think I would just leave you like this?”

   “Well, you could.”

   Lapis laughed at that. She squeezed Pearl a bit more. Her arms already warmed the cold outer side of her leather jacket, but she wondered if the person covered in it was still cold. “Don’t be silly, Pearl.” She said and smiled warmly. Lapis noticed some of Pearl‘s hair locks protruding to sides, wet and cold. Lapis reached her hand slowly and with a few strokes she gently fixed those messy hair locks.

   Pearl let herself blush and close her eyes. She now started to feel the warmth of Lapis’ body flowing through her jacket to her trembling body, but fortunately she wasn’t shaking as much as before. She rested in her soft, caring arms for the next thirty long minutes, forbidding herself from falling asleep, although it was really forcing her to do so. It was so comfortable in her arms, so calm and peaceful. Sometimes she could even sense Lapis’ thumb fondly stroking her shoulder.

   Pearl carefully lifted her head and looked up at Lapis, but she had her eyes closed. She was breathing softly, her head was tilted to a side against Pearl's that was resting on the blue-haired girl’s shoulder. Lapis looked like she was asleep, but still she was stroking Pearl with her thumb tenderly with brief interrupts.

   “… Lapis?” She whispered, but got no response from her. Pearl noticed that she was actually very close to her, but this was different closeness than when they shared their first hug. She was now practically laying on Lapis, in her arms. This was way different and a little bit strange, but Pearl felt somehow good, she felt satisfied and safe like never before, but why was she feeling like this?

   Pearl felt her own heart beat speeding up, just as her breath. She felt like there were pins and needles in her stomach. She was trembling, but not because she was cold. Actually, she didn’t feel cold at all. All Lapis’ warmth already overwhelmed her. She was melting like a snowflake in a stove now.

   Pearl swallowed hard, still staring at the girl who was sitting right next to her. She scanned her face again, more close; her dark brows, big closed eyes, cute freckled nose and cheeks, her lips shaped like a heart. And staring still at her, Pearl started to lean slowly towards her; towards her lips. They were provoking her, calling her, forcing Pearl to touch them with her own.

   ‘ _Why are you doing this to me_?’ Pearl asked herself, softly breathing boiling air out of her shivering lungs through her parted lips right into Lapis’ face. Pearl gasped and lowered her eyes, getting her lips closer and closer to the other ones. She had goosebumps all over her body, her jaw started to tremble, her heart was bouncing in her chest so wildly and aggressively as she felt like it could explode any second. She almost brushed the soft skin of Lapis’ lips, but she noticed Lapis opening her eyes and that made Pearl immediately pull back as quickly as physically possible.

   “Lapis!” Pearl bit her lip hard, breathing uncontrollably quick. She pressed her hand against her chest, trying to slow down her heart beat at any cost. “I… I-uh… uh. Thank goodness! I… I was worried about you. You-you weren’t responding and… I thought something happened to you.” Pearl let out quickly, breathing fast. She felt so embarrassed, her cheeks were so hot, boiling even.

   “Um…” Lapis locked her mouth in a tight line, without any slightest idea about what was happening just a few seconds ago. “I’m fine… I just took a nap. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…“

   Pearl felt really bad for lying and she regretted everything she wanted to do earlier and yet that Lapis didn’t even know about it. Well, Pearl hoped she didn‘t.

   “Ah-huh… don’t be sorry, I…” Pearl rubbed her nape and looked aside in embarrassment. She then looked somewhere where Lapis was out of her field of vision, out of the window, and noticed that it already stopped raining. “Oh, look! The rain is over.”

   “You’re right.” Lapis nodded, looking the same direction. “We can go home.”

<•••>

   After Lapis accompanied Pearl home, she headed back to the stable to see how it was going in there. The weather was still changing. Sometimes it was rainy, sometimes cloudy and sometimes even the sun appeared in the sky, but Lapis didn’t care how good or bad the weather was. The only thing that she cared about those past several weeks was spending all the time with Pearl. Except for equestrian stuff, she felt like she had something to live for again – well, someone. She couldn’t imagine losing her or never seeing her again. Pearl was really important to her and she was the reason why Lapis could forget the bad and think only about the good, to think about the future, not about the past. She was the reason why was Lapis smiling, the reason why she was happy – after the accident with her mother happened. She didn’t feel alone anymore.

   She entered the barn, then walked through it and headed to the stable, wondering if Blue was inside or grazing in the pasture, but found out the stable was whole empty-handed. No horses, no humans. Everything was clear. Peridot and the others probably led all the horses into pastures. These two weren’t the only ones who worked in the stable, but they were the ones who were spending most of the time there.

   Lapis walked through the corridor to the other side of the stable and looked at the grazing meadow spreading from the bottom to the top of the hill where her favorite maple tree was standing. She could see few horses grazing under the hill and some of them on its top, and Blue was probably somewhere there, too.

   Lapis hummed happily and sighed, leaning her side against the wide stable doorframe. She lowered her eyes slightly, watching the sunset.

   She was standing there for a long time, thinking about what happened today’s late afternoon. Something was bothering her now and she didn’t know how to figure this thing out. She could feel something back at that house – something strange. Or was she just dreaming? She felt like someone was leaning towards her, like someone was breathing right into her face. She was even wondering if Pearl was about to kiss her, but Lapis marked that as the most impossible option of all those options which she had in her mind.

 _‘Why would she even do that?’_ She sighed heavily and shook her head. She wondered how she could even live with herself, having these kinds of ideas in her head. How could an idea like this just pop up in her mind? She had to get those ridiculous ideas out of her head, but was it even possible?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • girls hid at unknown old house from rain  
> • Pearl managed to escape from being caught by Lapis whom she tried to kiss
> 
> ♦ 9th week


	10. Help is an Important Act

   When Lapis walked through the corridor again, she heard some noises coming from the storage, and some cursing, too.

   Silently, she peered inside, finding Peridot who was urgently trying to get to the highest shelf in the room, but for her misfortune, she was too short to stretch her hands there.

   Lapis leaned her back against the wall and crossed her legs and arms, giggling so softly that Peridot wasn’t able to hear her. Lapis watched her with interest, in absolute silence. She longed for seeing how the short person will help herself to get to the shelf that was less than just one meter above her. Although it felt really hopeless to Peridot, Lapis had a lot of fun while watching the blonde who was trying her best to get up there.

   Lapis then couldn’t make it and broke out in laughter. “You know, this is just priceless.” Lapis snorted and wiped her eyes from tears.

   Peridot jumped into the air in horrify, barking. “Lapis! What the hell?!”

   “I’m really, reeeally sorry, but I couldn’t help myself.” She wiped her eyes once more.

   “Well, that’s reeeally  _funny_.” The blonde growled and turned back to the shelves.

   “Actually… I came here to ask you for a little help.” Lapis then revealed, stopping herself from laughing, suddenly getting serious.

   “Oh,  _reeeally_? Didn’t you come here to laugh at _how short I am_?” The blonde rolled her eyes, crossing arms on her little chest.

   “Believe it or not, I didn’t.” Lapis answered, though the smile wasn’t that convincing at first.

   Peridot hummed and rubbed her pointy chin, thinking for a moment. “Okay, but something for something, Laz.”

   “Sure.” Lapis shrugged and lowered her eyelids.

   Peridot cleared her throat and turned entirely to her friend. “Could you hand me that box over there?” She pointed at the dark-green plastic box located in right corner of the top shelf.

   Lapis willingly approached the shelves, stood onto her toes and took the box into her hands, taking it down. She heard steel clinking in the box and with interest she opened it.

   “Horseshoes? What are you going to do with them?” Lapis asked and handed the box to Peridot.

   “Mom asked me to bring her a used horseshoe for her friend’s daughter.” She clarified and cleared her throat again. “Now when the box is down, how can I help  _you_?”

   Peridot put the box down onto the floor, her thin arms were quite weak to carry heavy objects for too long, then she straightened up and looked at Lapis.

   Lapis froze. She hasn’t even thought about how to put her question together yet,  and now she started to doubt if it was even a good idea to ask Peridot for this kind of help. But who else could help her? Peridot was practically her only good friend and she knew her for so long, too.

   “So?” The blonde raised her eyebrow, breaking Lapis’ train of thoughts with her question.

   Lapis shook her head, her cheeks became slightly red. This was difficult, even more difficult than she expected, but in the end, Lapis took her courage and deep breath.

   “Peridot… let me kiss you.”

   “What?!” Peridot barked. “What kind of help is that?”

   “Listen, I…” Lapis inhaled slowly. “I really like one girl and I just… I just want to make good first impression.”

   “Dude, you know I can’t do that! I have a boyfriend. That would be cheating.” Peridot objected, already giving Lapis a sign that there was no way doing it. “Why are you even asking me for such thing? You already dated. You know how to kiss, don’t you?”

“Pff.” Lapis blew her bangs away from her forehead. “Yes, but that was _Jasper_ … I need to be gentle this time.” She said, almost desperately, but Peridot just rolled her eyes.

   The taller girl then lowered her eyes in disappointment and sighed heavily, rubbing her forearm. “… Geez, maybe you’re right. This was a bad idea. I’m sorry, just… forget that I said anything. I thought that asking you would be silly anyway.”

   There was an awkward silence between them for a while, though Lapis was still hoping that Peridot will change her mind, but it didn’t look like that. Lapis then decided to let it be and rather headed out the room with a hung head.

   ' _That was embarrassing_ …‘ Lapis sniffed, palming her forehead and dashing from the storage as quickly as possible. ' _How could I think this might work? I‘m such a–‘_

   “–Lapis, wait!” Peridot then ran out of the storage and walked to Lapis, taking her by her shoulder. “I… I’ll do it…”

   Lapis’ eyes then widened in surprise. “Um… really?”

   “Yes... you're my best friend, and friends should help each other, right? Just… promise me that immediately, right after that kiss is over, we will act like nothing happened and never speak of it again, okay?“

   “We… really don’t have to do it, Peridot.”

   “Dude!” Peridot slapped her own forehead and gesticulated. “You wanted me to help you! So let me do it then!”

   Lapis knew that making Peridot do something that she didn’t want to do was a challenge and really difficult goal in every way, but she appreciated Peridot’s kindness towards her. Lapis was the only one whom could Peridot trust – she confided to Lapis about it.

   Lapis sighed softly through her nose and approached her friend. She lowered her head to look Peridot into her emerald eyes. She could feel her nervousness, but her willingness, too. She watched her as her green eyes stared at her doubtfully with a bit of uncertainty.

   Peridot shut her eyes, probably wishing for everything to be over soon, and swallowed.

   Lapis reached her hand, but managed to stop before touching Peridot yet. ' _It’s okay. It’s okay… just pretend it’s Pearl.’_  She then took her courage and gently took Peridot by her jaw, pulling her slowly towards herself. She closed her eyes and imagined Pearl being there, standing in front of her and forcing her lips towards hers. This was a bit hard for Lapis to imagine because Pearl was half a head taller then she was, and Peridot was more than half a head smaller than Lapis. But still, she felt like it was worth trying.

   Lapis let her lips be pressed against Peridot’s, making the smaller girl wince softly, but she seamlessly let Lapis continue. The taller girl then pressed their lips together a bit harder, carefully and slowly enough not to startle the Peridot or making her run away. She held their lips together for a few moments with both of them breathing into each other’s lungs softly. This brief kiss then ended with a smack of their lips as Lapis pulled back a bit, yet still she was close.

   “So…” Lapis swallowed nervously. “How was it?”

   Peridot blinked several times and shook her head slightly, a bit shocked. “I… think I’m not straight anymore…“

   “Be serious.”  Lapis forced a sigh with a frown, wanting to hear an honest answer.

   “I am! Like… not that I’m not straight, but... it wasn’t that bad…” The blonde felt embarrassed, she couldn’t look Lapis into her eyes, but in the end she had no choice.

   “Thanks, Peridot.” Lapis smiled as the smaller girl looked back up at her.

   “Yeah…” She rubbed the back of her thin neck and looked aside again.

   Suddenly, both girls heard fast steps approaching them and then they immediately pulled away from one another.

   “Oh, Lapis there you are!” It was their good old friend who hasn’t appeared in the stable in a while, since he had a lot of work with other riders and their presence on show jumping competitions.

   “Hey, Greg.” Girls said at the same time and waved at him, hoping that he hasn’t seen anything that happened just a little while ago.

   “How are you?” He said breathlessly, but it was more like a rhetorical question than a common one. He was probably in hurry, still gulping for air. “Lapis… I got a surprise for you… I signed you to Grand Prix starting this October!”

   “… What?!” Lapis froze, followed by Peridot. “Grand Prix? This October?”

   “Yes. We should probably start with practice soon.” He objected, tapping the glass of his watch, still panting.

   “I-I, um… uh.” Lapis stuttered, still a bit distracted by kissing Peridot just a minute ago, too distracted to understand what was just happening. She was confused – Greg just appeared here from nowhere and told her something about Grand Prix? What was going on? She had to slow down and collect herself. “Right. I-uh… I-I could take Blue to the hall tomorrow.” She blurted headlessly, completely lost. Then cursed to herself. ‘ _What did you just_ –‘

   “–Wonderful.” Greg nodded swiftly. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go now. I’m glad I could catch you here. See you tomorrow then.”

   “… O-kay.” Lapis’ chin slightly dropped. She said goodbye to the older man as he turned on his heels and headed out of the stable in hurry. Lapis knew he had a lot of work and that he didn’t have any time even to relax, not even for a few minutes. He was busy all the time and that was the reason why were Lapis and Peridot spending so much time in the stable and practically taking care of everything on their own.

   “So… Grand Prix?” Peridot smirked and bit her lip, looking at her taller friend. She poked her side.

   Lapis just winced a little. “What the actual hell does that mean?” She stood frozen, staring ahead. “I hope he didn’t forget about those two competitions we planned to participate in, though.”

   Peridot tried to bit back a chuckle, but failed. “I bet he did.”

   Lapis hummed unsurely while Peridot was still sniggering.

   “Don’t be like that, Lapis. You know he’s sclerotic.” She patted her shoulder.

   “Unfortunately…” Lapis sighed and ran her hand through her hair, making her fringe turn backwards. “But… Grand Prix? Is he crazy?”

   “Hey, don’t worry.” Peridot smiled at her, looking Lapis into her dark blue eyes. “You can still talk to him about that tomorrow, right?”

   The other girl said nothing, mouth locked in a tight line. She hummed.

<•••>

   After Lapis finished cleaning her horse and its hooves, she tacked Blue up and headed to the hall yet the same day, since she had nothing else to do that afternoon. Peridot helped her to set up the cavaletti and fences into several different types of sizes, so Lapis could always move to higher levels of jumps. Peridot then left back to the stable to clean the rest of the stalls.

   First, Lapis walked around the whole arena and let her horse check every fence settled on the dirty-surface ground so the mare knew what kind of jumps they will practice on today.

   Lapis went to a free walk and let the reins released to let Blue stretch her neck, still walking around the hall in slow, calm movements. Finally, when she felt comfortable and in a harmony with her horse, she asked it to trot. As Blue was trotting in an optimal speed, Lapis slowly got to coordination with the mare‘s body, letting her own body lifting up and lowering down to catch up with the rhythm of Blue’s steps. Lapis hold onto the knee roll with a firm squeeze of her knees, resting the tips of her feet in stirrups and pushing her heels down. She spurred her horse once more with a clicking sound of her tongue and leaned a bit forward to remind the balance while going to canter.

   Once she was cantering, she approached one of the smaller fences and in an optimal distance from it, she kicked Blue into her flanks, making a clinking sound again and crossing the small vertical. She headed to another small fence and again she successfully crossed it.

   Later then, she was very satisfied with all those jumps she overcame, still trying to go for higher and higher levels, forcing herself not to stop yet and continue, making the jumps even more difficult to defeat. Lapis wasn’t some fragile little girl what everyone always called her. She was pushing herself so hard, sometimes even too much to get the best out of herself. She even made herself collapse several times because of that, despite she was able to take a true burden on her back and bravely fight it. When she was about to do something, she did it properly and correctly and at any cost, even if it meant to crack up and stay lying on the ground, unable to move.

   They galloped round the hall, letting Blue’s hooves drum and make the ground dust float around. Lapis then changed the direction by pulling the reins slightly to the right and squeezed the horse’s left side. She turned her horse to the right by one hundred and eighty degrees, so now they galloped counterclockwise, repeating the last few rounds several times without any break.

   Blue slowly started to become tired from an hour of constant cantering; she was already snorting loudly and sometimes she missed some of Lapis’ commands she gave her. But Lapis simply didn’t have enough, although she was gulping for air herself. Drops of sweat started to roll down her forehead. Her hands were sweating, too, especially her palms and the parts between her ring fingers and pinkies where she was holding the reins. She could already feel wet circles under her armpits, yet they were still growing bigger and bigger. But Lapis was determined, namely too much to stop. She was ready to get the best out of herself, she didn’t want to stop, although she felt really exhausted. She barely stood in the saddle, but she was convinced she could do more. And she was going for it.

   Even when Blue was sorely refusing to keep cantering, Lapis kept spurring her, talking to her and telling her to hold on and keep going.

   Lapis’ head was spinning, her hands were burning, her legs hurt like hell, well, her entire body hurt. She almost couldn‘t catch her breath, but she was still bravely standing in stirrups, feeling her knees and legs unstoppably tremble.

   They were still running, jumping, running, jumping and running over and over again, repeating it so many times, one long round after another, galloping round the whole arena without even only one second of little break. Lapis‘ vision was completely blurred, she didn’t know if that irritating fluid in her eyes were tears or sweat, she couldn’t hear anything clearly, she could only hear deep muffled noises and yet she had no idea where were they coming from. Her mare‘s hooves drumming against the ground was Lapis’ mantra, repeating and repeating, later slightly vanishing with every next second. She couldn’t even distinguish them from her wild heart beat. Her eyes were rolling upside down, but she was furiously trying to blink that off, she almost couldn’t see where she was going. Her body was weak, shaking, her every muscle was ruefully pleading to finally stop. But Lapis had to continue, she couldn’t stop. She was determined to finish what she started in any case, at any slightest cost.

   She managed to swallow weakly, clenching her teeth as hard as she could at that moment, reaching to the very bottom of her vigor.

   For a moment, she felt as if someone was calling her, but she instantly put that silly idea behind her head and continued in what she was doing.

   She then completely got out of the pace, rising up from the saddle and lowering down in some strange rhythm, if only it could be called like that. She kept jerking and hitting the saddle nastily and painfully, nearly making herself fall down from her horse’s back.

<•••>

   Peridot picked up the used bedding with a pitchfork and threw it into the stable wheelbarrow. She then bent again and picked up another batch, throwing it onto the stack of dirty straw. She repeated it several times until the stall was perfectly devoid of mess. She grabbed the barrow handles and headed to the manure pile. After that, she came back, took a broom and swept away the bedding residues from the corridor into Percy’s stall, then she headed to the hay shelter situated in the center of one meadow near the stable, she filled the barrow with new, fresh bedding, taking it back to the stable and spreading it out in her Haflinger’s stall.

   Half the work was done, but still she had a lot to do. Peridot wiped her forehead and relaxed for a moment, leaning her back against a stall gate. She rubbed her chin, wondering where Lapis was and that she still wasn’t in the arena. Peridot knew exactly about Lapis’ problems with overdoing trainings and collapsing because of it. She knew that it wasn’t very good for Lapis’ health. She was always worried about her. Lapis was gone for two hours now and Peridot started to become nervous. She then pulled away from the wooden gate and headed to the training arena to check on Lapis, wishing that she wasn’t there anymore.

   She took a deep breath, hoping that the training hall was completely empty, but nearly screamed in horrify after seeing Lapis in the desperate state of hers. She was still cantering, well, urgently trying to, barely holding on the saddle, bent in her back, entirely red and sweaty, panting loudly. Blue also seemed completely tired, barely holding on her legs, wide streams of white sweat were rolling down her dark mahogany coat from top to bottom. Her lips were suffused with spits dropping down to the ground.

   Peridot shook her head several times, extremely horrified. “Lapis, you fucking blue-haired idiot! Stop that horse immediately!” She yelled and ran to them, but Lapis barely seemed that she noticed her. She kept spurring and kicking her horse, over and over, not quite close to stop.

   “Lapis! Stop! RIGHT NOW!” Peridot kept calling angrily, finally approaching them. She jumped right into their way and made Blue stop by grabbing her reins and pulling them aside. The stopped so sharply that Lapis almost fell down from her back.

   Blue’s legs were shaking so badly, her mouth and nostrils were wide open, unstoppably gulping for air. But Lapis didn’t seem to react. She was sitting still in the saddle, literally lying on Blue’s neck, completely sweaty, burning, with eyes swollen, whole body trembling and arms hung down on each side of her horse’s neck.

   “Lapis, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Peridot reached her hands and grabbed Lapis by her arm, pulling her heavy body down. She dragged her down into her arms, almost falling onto the ground because of Lapis who practically fell down from over five feet height. Peridot carefully laid her down, unbuckling her helmet and throwing it away.

   “Lapis, what have I told you about overdoing the training? You’re such a stupid chump! Can you hear me?!” She barked at her, letting Lapis’ head rest in her lap.

   Lapis didn’t say anything at that, she was glad that her fast breath was slowing down. Her mouth was open, she was gulping for air, eyes half-closed and teary.

   “I’m…” Lapis let out weakly. “… F-fine.”

   Peridot growled and rolled her eyes. “Yes, and I’m a pope.”

   Lapis then breathed out a grin, happy to hear Peridot’s kind of humor again. She was lying there for a bit, maybe for twenty minutes, finally indulging in some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis asked Peridot for a little help  
> • Greg signed Lapis to Grand Prix  
> • Lapis almost collapsed during the training
> 
> ♦ 9th week


	11. The Virgin and the Crab

   It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day and Pearl felt like this was a pecfect moment for cleaning the house. She went to the kitchen and put a bucket, window spatula and rag out of the sink cabinet. She then removed the spatula and the rag from the bucket and filled it with warm water, heading to the kitchen casement window and starting to clean it. First she opened it, dipped the rag in the bucket and then neatly wiped the outer side of the glass. She then bent down, dipped the rag again and washed the other window glass. Once she was done with it, she took the spatula and slowly she slid down the glass from top to bottom to clear it from water. Then she went back to the cabinet and grabbed a dry rag to wipe the surplus waterdrops from window frames. Satisfied with her finished work, she closed the window and continued in other room.

   It took her about an hour to clean all the windows, but she didn’t care about the time. Pearl loved cleaning up the house – the best part of it was that sometimes she found things she couldn't find for weeks. In most cases they were books. She always put them somewhere and later she couldn't remember where. Sometimes she even blamed her cat that the books were mysteriously dissapearing. Maybe Rose laid down on them and after a brief nap she stood up and made the book fall behind the couch. Well, that was one of Pearl’s many other possible theories.

   Pearl put the bucket and the rest back into the sink cabinet and then headed to the small pantry room where she got a washing machine, broom and other cleaning supplies, and took a hoover. She started off with the living room since it was the place where Rose was spending most of the time and the furniture was completely lost in her white hair because of that. Pearl vacuumed the floor, the carpet under tha table and of course the sofa, then all the pillows and blankets, later then vacuuming the other rooms.

   As she finished vacuuming, she put the hoover onto its place and pulled out a box of wet napkins, dusting all kinds of surfaces in her apartment; shelves, tables, cabinets, door handles, lamps, closet and picture frames on the walls. And finally, after cleaning the dust, she took a mop and mopped the entire floor with it, hoping that Rose won’t decide to jump down from the couch and make footprints on now perfectly clean, wet floor.

   Now the only thing that left was to get dressed and get psychically ready to visit the stable again. Pearl had visited the barn for several times already, but still she didn’t feel enough comfortable with it, but she knew that when she was with Lapis, she didn't have to be afraid of anything.

<•••>

   “That’s great, Lapis! Keep going, keep going!” Greg urged, watching the stopwatch, standing in the middle of the arena, walking between the obstacles. Lapis nodded resolutely and spurred the horse. She cantered round the arena, directing Blue to a triple bar. Once she approached the obstacle, she kicked Blue into her flanks, making a clinking sound and leaning forward against the mare’s neck to keep balance. Blue overcame the fence, touching the ground with her front legs, the hind ones still in the air. Lapis then bent back, pushing into stirrups and squeezing firmly her knees. Lapis pulled her left hand against her body, kicking the horse with her right leg and turning the animal to the left, heading to another fence. Soon she got there, clicked her tongue again and squeezed Blue’s sides, forcing her to jump. Blue was already snorting, lashing her tail in the air and shaking her head. It’s been two hours since they started their training and they’ve already become tired after one hour, but this time they were making brief pauses regularly. Lapis quite regreted yesterday and also her behavior – she was always regreting it the next day after the training, because it really had a bad effect on her health. But today she couldn’t afford to skip the training because of Greg. Lapis knew that he was always gone and had almost no time for her, so Lapis was practically preparing for the competitions by herself most of the time.

   Lapis and Blue finally jumped the last fence, then they slowly went to trot and after a moment of trotting to walk, then stopped in front of their coach.

   “Good, Lapis, good.” Greg raised his hat, nodding. “Just watch the time next training and you’ll surely beat them… also, we should heighten the fences, gradually. Grand Prix has completely different level of jumps.”

   Lapis bit her lip. She was flattered by the compliments, but on the other hand she was worried about where this all was heading. She undone her helmet and took it off. “Thanks, Greg, but… I don’t know. Grand Prix? Isn’t it too soon?”

   “Of course not!” Greg waved her off, but smiled. “Lapis, if I wasn’t sure about that, I wouldn’t take you in.”

   Lapis then hummed, still a little worried. She looked aside and freed the reins to let Blue stretch her neck.

   “Listen, Lapis.” The older man started, then approached the horse and patted its neck, looking up at Lapis. “You have potential. You were born for this! I _know_ you can do it, so why bother with low level competitions if you got the potential for something more to show?”

   “But, the World Cup… this was my first big gold. I was always stuck on third or second place or… worse.” Lapis objected. She then pulled her feet out of stirrups and jumped down next to Greg.

   “But you were so close to it! And then you finally got it! You just had a bad luck before… or maybe the others had more of it.” Greg pouted, looking aside for a few seconds. He then put his big hands onto the girl’s shoulders gently. “But trust me, Lapis. You’re strong, brave warrior. I believe in you, and if someone believes in you, it’s way easier to succeed.”

   Lapis looked into his eyes, they were so serious and full of softness at the same time. Greg was wise man and Lapis knew it, even though she had doubts about him sometimes. He was always right about these things, but why couldn’t Lapis just trust herself if he did? She was pushing herself so hard to get the best out of her after all, wasn’t she? So why couldn’t she risk a bit and have some fun?

   “But… what about those two competitions on the list?” She then asked, suddenly remembering.

   “You’re not going.” He said clearly. “Let’s just focus on Grand Prix now. Plus I think it’s quite late to train for those two competitions. We don’t even have a month for preparations. We’ll better prepare for October.” Greg then removed his hands and stepped slightly back.

   ‘ _But… what? I-I don’t understand._ ’ Lapis sighed, resisting to palm her face and cry.

   “Just trust yourself, Lapis… and me, too.” He smiled, ready to leave. “By the way, good job today, girls. Get yourselves shower and relax for a bit. I’ll see you in a week.”

   “… O-kay.” Lapis sighed again, holding her helmet and staring after Greg as he was leaving the training hall. She grabbed the reins with her right hand and pulled Blue towards herself, nuzzling her cheek.

<•••>

   Pearl parked her car on the small, stable parking lot, turning off the engine and unbuckling herself. She then got out and opened the backdoor, taking a rolled up blanket and a big watermelon from the backseat. She didn’t even bother locking the car and walked to the inside of the open barn, though still a bit unsurely.

   She walked through the barn slowly, right into the stable. Always when she was there, the first thing she saw was Malachite – that giant, terrifying black horse that was usually agressively neighing and knocking into the stall walls. But today, fortunately, Malachite seemed quite calm to Pearl. Maybe she was asleep, Pearl thought, but this early? The sun didn’t even hide entirely yet.

   The skinny girl continued deeper into the building, recognizing the smaller blonde with glasses in a short distance from her. Peridot was her name. She was sweeping the corridor, getting away spilled straw that was all over the paved floor. Pearl wanted to greet her, but wasn’t sure enough if she should walk through the building to the other side and meet her, but on the other hand, Pearl was so proud of herself because every time she was there, she made herself go further into the stable, trying her best not to give all her attention to those scary, dark staring eyes.

   Peridot had her back turned to Pearl and seemed as if she was talking to someone, but Pearl couldn’t see anyone. She was probably talking to herself or to her horse. Pearl could also hear a stream of water falling onto the ground from somewhere near the blond girl.

   Pearl opened her mouth, hesitating for a moment, but spoke. “Hi, Peridot.” She greeted her in her common voice, not even bothering to increase it and so making all those enourmous animals turn their heads to her and stare. Peridot raised her head, looking around for a moment to find the source of the familiar voice and finally, when she glanced over, she found Pearl. They were maybe ten meters away from each other. Peridot was standing roughly in the center of the corridor that was maybe about twenty and five meters long itself.

   “Oh, hey there, skinny one.” Peridot grinned, leaning against the broom.

   “H-hi…” Pearl greeted again. She couldn’t even wave, because she was holding the big watermelon in her arms. “Is Lapis there?”

   “What-I can’t hear you!” Peridot placed her open palm behind her ear, shaking her head and gesturing that she didn’t hear Pearl’s question. “Come here.”She waved.

   Pearl swallowed hard, standing still on the spot, suddenly hearing somebody cursing from somewhere nearby Peridot. That made her freeze deeper into the ground, but eventually she took her courage and made several steps forwards, walking closer to the other girl. Still she was good five meters away from her. Now she could hear the water stream a bit louder.

   For some reason, Peridot started to smirk widel, trying to bite back laughter. “What did you say?”

   “I…” Pearl cleared her throat. “I was asking where Lapis is.”

   Peridot then looked to the right and snorted loudly, nearly laughing, but then she looked back at the taller girl, trying to make a serious face. “Well, if you’re interested in an ultra HD online stream of Lapis having a shower, go ahead.” She said impudently and gestured to where the water was falling.

   “You little bastard!” Someone yelled at her, making Pearl wince. The voice sounded familiar to Pearl. She caught a sight of blue hair that flashed through stall bars, but fortunately for Lapis, she was safely hidden behind one of the stall walls and Pearl couldn’t see her naked body. Pearl couldn’t even shade her eyes because of that watermelon. Her cheeks became completely red, they were boiling, thereupon Peridot started laughing.

   Lapis immediately grabbed the bloom-shaped faucet and turned the water stream off, putting the hose back on its place and taking a towel. She tried to dry herself up as quickly as possible and also not to be seen by Pearl. Huh, what an embarrassing idea to her.

   She quickly put on clean clothes, grabbing the sweated pieces along with the towel. She then bit her lip and walked out of the wash stall, turning red as soon as she saw Pearl.

   “Oh, Pearl… you’re here already.” She rubbed her wet hair, grinning awkwardly. “I… wasn’t expecting you coming so quickly.”

   “Quickly?” Peridot asked ironically and shook her head. “She didn’t even manage catching you up naked… what a wasted oportunity.”

   Lapis’ cheeks then turned darker shade of red, Pearl’s likewise.

   “You little runt!” Lapis hissed through her teeth, squeezing her dirty clothes firmly.

   Peridot sputtered, turning to Pearl. “Sorry for that. Perhaps you’ll be lucky next time.”

   Pearl swallowed hard and frowned in embarrassement. Lapis then intervened and took Peridot by her shoulders, clothes squeezed in her armpit.

   “Hey, Peridot, would you mind sweeping the rest of the stable and giving us some space?” Lapis blinked eagerly at her several times, an ironical smile on her lips. Then, still holding Peridot’s shoulders, she turned her around so now Peridot had her back turned to them. After that, Lapis let go of her and turned back to Pearl, fixing her clothes in her arms. After a moment, she heard Peridot growle, and eventually she started sweeping again.

   “So.” Lapis finally sighed, still feeling a bit awkward. She rubbed her nape. “How was the ride?”

   “Um… quick?” Pearl snickered. “I-um… I brought a watermelon.”

   Right after Pearl finished the sentence, Peridot spoke with a snort. “Well, great choice. Lapis loves melons.”

   Lapis growled at that. She rolled her eyes and tilted her head towards her smaller friend. “You mean  _water-melons_?”

   Another snort came out of Peridot. She kept sniggering while sweeping the floor. “I mean  _melons_.”

   Lapis sighed heavily. She turned to Pearl with a grumpy face on, but Pearl rather chuckled at the face she made.

   “At least she’s funny.” She giggled softly, smiling at Lapis.

    _“_ _I don’t think so_ …”

<•••>

   The sun hid behind the horizon soon and many stars appeared in the sky. Fortunately, it was nice weather that night so girls could comfortably sit outside and didn't have to worry about rain or wind.

   Lapis carried a plate with sliced watermelon while Pearl carried the blanket. The equestrian led Pearl to the rope-fenced grazing meadow, assuring her that there were no horses in. They walked in and continued onto the top of the grazing hill where the maple tree was growing. After they arrived, Lapis put down the plate and helped Pearl spreading the blanket. Then, they sat down together and each of them took a slice of watermelon, nibbling it and enjoying its sweet, sugary center.

   Lapis took last bite of her triangle-shaped piece and put the peel back onto the plate. “Thanks for that watermelon, Pearl. It’s really delicious.” She chewed slowly with joy, then she looked at her friend, sitting by her left side, and smiled.

   Immediately, when their eyes met, Pearl winced slightly, turning red and looking aside. “I-um… yeah, you’re… welcome.” She then grinned, too, but didn’t look back at her, nibbling her slice of melon.

   Lapis wanted Pearl to look at her; she wanted to see her eyes shining in the starlight. Well, she could see them, but not entirely.

   She wanted to say so many words dancing in her mind, forcing her to do so. She studied Pearl’s face carefully. Every single part reminded her of a different word, and the more she studied her, thouse words became sweeter. Pearl was so beautiful, so young and innocent, so fragile and elegant, charming, enchanting even; especially in the muffled starlight. Lapis could tell.

   She cleared her throat softly, taking another triangle into her hands. “Um, Pearl?”

   Pearl hummed, finally turning her face to Lapis, still eating her piece of watermelon.

   “Have I asked you… about your age yet?” Lapis wondered, searching in her mind, and Pearl seemed as if she didn’t know either.

   “Oh, um… I think not.” Pearl cleared her throat, wiping her mouth from the juice. “I’m nineteen.”

   Lapis took a bite and raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Hm, still young girl.”

   “Young?” Pearl snorted, taking another bite. “How about you? How old are you?”

   Lapis chewed for a moment, she didn’t want to talk with full mouth. “I’m… twenty-four.” She swallowed, but suddenly heard Pearl choking. Lapis immediately leaned over to her and hit her back several times to help her get the thing in her throat out, delicately enough not to hurt her. “Pearl? You okay?”

   Pearl then stopped, getting the little watermelon stone out of her throat, patting her chest. “You’re twenty-four?!”

   “… Um, yes?” Lapis frowned in confusion. “Is that okay?”

   “Yes, I mean… Yeah, I… you.” Pearl stuttered, shaking her head, trying to calm down. She took a deep breath then. “I thought… y-you seem younger.”

   Pearl was a bit afraid to look at her after making a scene like that. She wished that Lapis won’t take it personally somehow.

   “Well, thank you.” Lapis then giggled and with that she made Pearl look at her, probably she surprised her with this kind of reaction.

   The taller girl stared at her for a while, holding the slice of watermelon. “Um, yeah. I… I’m sorry for the reaction.”

   Lapis snorted at that. “Don’t be sorry, Pearl. I’m glad you didn’t suffocate yourself. Are you okay now?” She softly patted Pearl’s back and smiled. Pearl nodded, finally breathing again.

 

   Soon they ate all the slices of melon, extolling the briliant taste of it and digesting it peacefully. They were lying on the ground, letting the soft blanket adhere to their bodies, with hands folded under their heads. Lapis had her hair almost dry by that moment and all because of the breeze that was lightly blowing and wiping her every single cyan-blue hair, one by one. Sometimes, when the wind blew a bit stronger, Lapis’ fringe fell into her face which then made Pearl laugh softly.

   “Which… Zodiac sign are you?” Pearl asked after she stopped giggling. She folded her hands on her belly, turning her head to Lapis.

   Lapis was silent for a moment, thinking and watching the starry sky. “… I’m a Cancer.” She said proudly, also turning her head to the other girl who just started to snicker again.

   “A Cancer.” She sighed. “It’s a shame. The Cancer constellation is under the horizon at this time.”

   Lapis softly hummed at that, wondering what Pearl’s sign was. It also kept her amazed how Pearl could confess in astronomy and astrology so well – and she foolishly thought that she was the one who knew the sky well.

   “What’s yours?” She asked, gazing at her impatiently.

   It also took Pearl a moment, but then she spoke and gave Lapis a smirk. “A Virgo.”

   “Well, that certainly sounds better than a _cancer.”_ Lapis objected, but chuckled. “And is… the Virgo constellation in the sky right now?”

   Pearl rubbed her chin, thinking. “Well… I think that if we look towards the west then there could be visible a small part of it.”

   The equestrian hummed at that in disappointment, urgently searching for the small part of the Virgo constellation, but she couldn’t see it. She wasn't that good in finding these things, especially when there were millions of tiny stars covering the sky.

   She sighed softly. “And what’s-uh… above us right now?” She asked Pearl as if she was some constellation encyclopedia.

   Pearl thought, staring up at the sky. Finally, she recognized some of them. She reached her hand and pointed up. “There’s the Swan, can you see? The long neck, tail and two spread wings.” She pointed to each star that composed the Cygnus constellation. “And under the swan, there’s a Pegasus.”

   “… The winged horse.” Lapis sighed dreamily, making Pearl turn her head to her and smile.

<•••>

   Pearl yawned silently, cupping her mouth and shutting her eyelids, and with a smack of her lips she then made her eyes open. “What time is it?”

   Lapis checked her watch; since she didn’t bring her phone, there was no other chance to know what time it was. “Half past one.” She made herself yawn, too.

   “Already?” Pearl sat up quickly. “It’s too late, I should be going by now.”

   The other girl looked at her sorrowfully. She sat up, too, folding hands in her lap. “Do you really have to go? You can stay if you want.” She offered, her gaze was pleading.

   “I’d like to…” She exhaled, turning her gaze to Lapis. “But I can’t… I have to go home.”

   “I see…” Lapis exhaled, furrowing her eyebrows sadly. “May I at least accompany you to your car?”

   “Please.” Pearl smiled imploringly.

   After a while they packed all the things. Pearl rolled up the blanket and Lapis brought the plate back to the stable, then they headed straight to Pearl’s grey pickup standing on the parking lot near the barn. Pearl sighed as they approached the car and stopped by its side. She then opened the backdoor and threw the blanket to the inside, closing the door after that. She turned back to Lapis and leaned her back against the cargo space's wall, supporting herself with her hands put onto the wall border. Lapis was standing near her, in front of her, with a sad smile on her face.

   Pearl sighed again, putting a hair lock behind her ear. “So… thank you for today, Lapis. It was fun.”

   “Yeah. It was.” Lapis nodded in agreement.

   They stood there for a while, looking at each other without speaking. They were standing so close to one another. There were no doubts that each of them wanted to get yet closer. While they were standing there, the wind suddenly rose, making Lapis’ hair fall into her face again. She growled a sigh and Pearl started to giggle, cupping her mouth. But when she saw Lapis’ hopeless looking face, she reached her hand and slowly she pushed Lapis’ bangs aside, making her blink when the hair locks brushed her eyelashes.

   Pearl gently pushed her indigo hair away, slowly, lightly brushing Lapis’ skin with the back of her thin fingers, sliding them down along the girl’s freckled cheek in a slow pace, ending up on her jaw.

   Lapis sighed softly. She lowered her eyes, absorbing the warmth of Pearl’s fingers and staring at her parted lips. Chills then ran down her spine when she looked back up at Pearl, looking her in the eyes. She sank deeper into them, almost losing her breath and mind. She then scanned her lips, their shape, their curves, those sparkling white teeth that were slightly showing from behind them. Lapis then made a small step forward, remembering kissing Peridot and pretending she was Pearl; but this time it was real Pearl, right here, right now.

   Lapis reached her hands slightly, slowly leaning forward. She was in a doubt, she was scared, terrified even, but she longed for her lips too much not to kiss her.

   Lapis stopped when she appeared near to Pearl’s lips, giving Pearl a chance to finish what she started and hoping she will.

   Pearl lost her breath, she swallowed, seeing and feeling Lapis so close to her. She was scared, too, but there was something; something calling her and forcing her to do it. She was leaning forward slowly, cautiously, without the slightest idea she was actually doing it. She made her eyes close, softly breathing hot air into Lapis’ partly open mouth.

   Lapis could feel it. She felt Pearl’s hot breath as she was brushing her lip, she could feel her nervousness along with the appetency. Lapis didn’t want to wait any second longer; she just didn’t. She was too impatient and greedy for that. She was waiting for so long; for too many long days, for too many long weeks. She already endured too much time thinking about this moment; this speacial and unique moment.

   She then closed her eyes and softly pressed her lips against Pearl’s. Delicately, she was brushing Pearl’s thighs with her fingertips, not moving them; she just held them on the spot, not to let Pearl feel unpleasantly.

   Pearl’s hand still rested on Lapis’ jaw, her fingers were still clung onto her tanned skin. She then gingerly moved her hand upper and cupped Lapis’ cheek. Then she raised her other hand and took Lapis’ other cheek into her palm. She made their kiss deeper as she pulled Lapis a bit closer to herself. The taste of her lips was indescribable; so uplifting and enchanting. Lapis’ lips were so sweet, so smooth and warm, still a bit sugarry from the watermelon juices. Pearl tasted them delicately, giving Lapis one suck of her lips by another, carefully, yet passionately.

   Lapis didn’t know if she should stop breathing or breath faster. She was melting, her cheeks were burning, and her mouth likewise as was stealing more and more kisses from Pearl. Lapis finally found her courage and instead of her fingertips, she pressed her palms against Pearl’s thighs, continuing upper in a slow pace towards her slim waist, letting her hands rest there.

   They stayed like that for a while, kissing and enjoying each other’s presence, feeling one another’s breath, lips and touches of their hands. None of them wanted to pull apart. If only it was an afternoon or morning, they could stay like this for all the rest of the day then. Well, they could since it was 2 AM by the time, but they both knew they couldn’t.

   Lapis didn’t want Pearl to leave, nor even to pull away from her sweet lips, but Lapis knew that she had to. Against her will, she pulled away with a smack of their lips, opening her eyes again. Pearl opened them, too. She looked Lapis into her eyes, softly breathing, still holding her hands on the other girl‘s cheeks. Soon they both started giggling, holding onto each other for support and hugging.

   Pearl hoped that there won’t be any accident on her way home after this since she was completely enchanted and feeling dizzy again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis was preparing herself and her horse for Grand Prix  
> • Lapis and Pearl spent the night watching stars  
> • Pearl and Lapis kissed for the first time
> 
> ♦ 9th week (Sunday)


	12. A Home from Home

   It had been a few days since they saw each other after that kiss, each of them thinking about one another, but not talking, not even calling on a phone. They both were so excited about the kiss, though they were so shy to face one another or even talk. Each of them thought that the other one was probably ashamed of the kiss and didn’t want to talk about it so they were just sitting by the phone and waiting for the other to call and say that everything is fine. But none of them did. They were just waiting, waiting in fear that the other girl won’t speak with them. But they so longed for each other, to see and hear one another again.

   But then, Pearl appeared to be the braver one. She unlocked her car and decided to visit Lapis in the stable. Pearl wanted her, she needed her, she needed to see her again. She couldn’t stay like this any longer, not even a second.

   Soon, she arrived. She parked the car on her favorite spot, locked it and bravely stepped into the barn. She walked through the minor part of the building and headed to the stable. She clenched her teeth and fists firmly, resolutely walking in and trying to avoid making an eye contact with any of those giant animals in there. But as Pearl was continuing further, she realized that there was no one inside; not even Peridot or the staff. Pearl walked throught the building and walked out on the opposite side from where she walked in. She hummed and put her hands on her hips, glancing around, but she still couldn’t see anyone. After a moment, she closed her eyes and listened. She stayed like that for a moment, listening in total silence, but then she could hear something; some deep, muffled clattering. It was coming from the big rectangle-shaped building standing next to the stable. She then decided to explore that area and walked around the stable, along wide stone pavement, slowly approaching the open, double-door entrance. There was a small slope in front of the doorframe, whole building floor was a bit raised and covered in dirt combined with some sand mixture. Pearl walked up the slope and peered inside the building. It was a really big hall with large vertical windows that were overlaying the upper half of all four high walls.

   Pearl looked down from the walls and noticed someone riding a horse round the hall, jumping over the fences there. She smiled widely when she recognized that person, light blush on her cheeks.

   She wasn’t entirely sure about going inside, but at least she leaned her back against the inside wall, right next to the doorframe so she always had a chance to run away if a horse appeared somewhere near her.

   Lapis haven’t noticed her yet. She was paying her attention to the obstacles and crossing them one by one. She was cantering round the arena between the fences and jumping over them thoughtfully, avoiding knocking down one single rail.

   The horse and its rider finally overcame the last fence, now trotting along the walls and taking a little break. But as Lapis approached the entrance to the training hall, she stopped her horse and gasped, finally noticing the girl. The skinny girl winced, stepping outside the building when Lapis’ horse seemed to be too close to her.

   “Pearl.” Lapis swallowed an inhale, staring at her.

   Pearl also swallowed, half-hiding behind the wall. “H-hi.” She tried to smile, but the animal was too near for her to do so.

   “Hi!” Lapis grinned widely in joy, cheeks red. She pulled both her feet out of stirrups, tossing her right leg over Blue’s back and dismounting her. She turned to Pearl with a bright smile on her lips and ran to her, wrapping her arms around Pearl’s neck. She squeezed her tightly, shut her eyes and nuzzled to girl‘s thin neck. Lapis suddenly felt a wave of happiness washing her, even a tear appeared in a corner of her eye as she felt Pearl’s presence again, as she felt her body, her fresh perfume and her breath, her heart beating in a regular rhythm.

   Pearl’s face turned red. A warm smile curled up on her cheeks. She was about to hug Lapis back, but as soon as she touched her with the tips of her digits, she nearly screamed. She immediatelly pulled back as Blue stretched her neck to them and cropped up right from behind Lapis’ back. Pearl crossed her arms on her chest in defence, panting. Lapis then took her gently by her hand and gave it a tender squeeze. Damn, she loved holding her hands so much. She missed it.

   “Shh, she’s just glad seeing you.” Lapis snickered, then took the reins to the other hand.

   Pearl moaned fearfully, this time a bit louder. “Uh…”

   Lapis then sighed with a grin, pulling Pearl’s hand slowly down from her chest. “You don’t have to be afraid, Pearl. She’s not going to hurt you.” She said softly and tilted her head.

   Pearl knew that. She trusted Lapis. Well, how couldn’t she? Pearl didn’t exactly know why she was afraid of horses, but she somehow felt like it wasn’t as bad as before. This place and Lapis probably helped her to reduce her fear a bit.

   “I know.” Pearl tried to smile and gave Lapis’ hand delicate grip back. She looked up at Blue, wondering what she might be thinking about while she was staring at Pearl with her big, dark eyes.

   “… Do you trust her?” Lapis asked suddenly. She turned her head towards her mare with a slight nod.

   Before Pearl could answer, she needed a lot of time to think about it. She couldn’t say _no_ in front of Lapis, likewise, she couldn’t say that she trusted her horse because she didn’t. Not entirely.

   “I…” Pearl exhaled despondently, eyes lowered.

   Lapis gave her a moment for a response, but as it didn’t come.Sshe leaned closer to her. “Do you trust  _me_?”

   Pearl turned her head to Lapis and bit down on her lip, scanning Lapis’ eyes cautiously. “I… I do.” She nodded, a little more resolutely.

   Lapis gave her a warm smile. She firmed her squeeze and slowly she started moving Pearl’s hand towards her horse.

   Pearl started to panic. Lapis kept forcing her hand towards the horse, towards its head. Pearl gasped shakily and started to tremble while her hand was still approaching to animal’s big head. She just said she trusted Lapis; now she couldn’t go back. She had to risk it.

   Pearl bit her shaking lip hard, turning her head away and shutting her eyes firmly, but still she let Lapis go on. She prayed for everything to be okay.

   Lapis understood her fear and she respected it, but she also wanted to help Pearl to move on. She wanted to help her get rid of her fear that was uncontrollably manipulating her mind and body.

   The equestrian kept moving her hand towards the mare while Pearl was stiffly shading her eyes with the back of her free hand and trying to pretend that this wasn’t happening.

   When her palm slightly brushed the mare’s smooth muzzle, it made Pearl wince, but after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and let Lapis put her hand onto the horse’s nose once again, only slower this time. Once Pearl’s palm cupped the smooth spot between Blue’s nostrils, the girl let out another shaky sigh, expecting the worst, but for good ten seconds nothing happened, Pearl could only feel the mare’s breath rolling over her arm, Lapis’ hand cupping her own and psychically supporting her, stroking it gently with her thumb.

   Pearl managed to remove her hand from her eyes and with brief interrupts while turning her head, she looked at the horse. For her surprise, Blue seemed really calm at that moment. She was standing still, quietly breathing with her eyes closed.

 _‘Oh my god… I can’t believe this…‘_  Pearl froze and stared still at her hand that was hidden under Lapis’. Pearl then looked at her friend, finding her grinning beautifully.

   “Look at you. You did it.” She whispered. But Pearl just stared at her in disbelief, unable to move for a good minute.

   “So… how is it?” Lapis chuckled. It seemed funny to her how Pearl just kept staring at her the way she did.

   Turning to Blue, Pearl hummed, deciding what to say. “It’s… smooth. I-think.”

   Lapis couldn’t bite back a giggle. Blue then opened her eyes, lifted her head in a quick motion which made Pearl jump aside and hide behind Lapis, but this just made Lapis chuckle again.

   “What even made you coming here?” Lapis wondered, furrowing her eyebrow and turning her head to the taller girl who was pretending to be invisible and trying to maze the horse.

   “Er… Y-you…” She breathed out, grabbing Lapis’ shoulders, pulling them both back, away from that animal.

   The blue-haired girl opened her eyes wide. “How’s that?” She turned to her with interest, but Pearl kept herself silent for several seconds.

   “Be-because… you know.” She stuttered. “We haven’t seen each other for a while, so…” She lied, biting her lip, but so that Lapis couldn’t see it. Well, it was true, but it wasn’t the main reason why she came here; the reason why she forced herself walking through that terrible stable full of those… beasts, just to see her.

   “That’s… right.” Lapis’ voice a bit lowered. Suddenly, something popped up in her head – a memory of the late night when they were together, the only, special, blessed night. Ah, Lapis kept thinking about it every day, every good minute. She wanted to experience it again; this was the only wish making her heart beating.

   Blue’s snort then broke her train of thoughts and Lapis shook her head. She rubbed the spot behind her ear. “Well… we could do something together if you want… again.”

   Lapis wasn’t the only one who was constantly thinking about that night at all. They both were too scared and too afraid to talk about it with one another, although this was the only thing they wanted to do. They wanted to scream, they wanted the whole world to know how extraordinary that night was and how great and regally they felt back then, and that they still do. Both of them wanted to tell the other how important the other one is to them and how they feel when they’re near each other, how does it feel when they are mutually looking into one another’s loving eyes, how just being present to them feels like.

   “I would love that.” Pearl finally smiled, giving Blue one last look.

<•••>

   It took Lapis several minutes, maybe ten, and she managed to untack her horse and with a blanket tossed over the horse‘s back, she delivered it to a grazing meadow to get some grass into its empty stomach after their training. Lapis still had to clean her, but there still was a plenty of time until the day turns into night so she could devote to Pearl now since they haven’t seen each other for a few days.

   “So, what are we up to?” Pearl looked at Lapis as she led her to the inside of the stable. It sort of surprised Lapis that Pearl was okay with it, obviously.

   Lapis hummed, massaging her chin and thinking. Finally, she got an idea with a satisfied grin on her lips. “I have an idea.”

   Lapis offered Pearl her hand in effort to make her feel safe while walking throught the building to the other side of it, but Pearl gently refused since she could do it on her own now, however, she hoped she didn’t make Lapis somehow insulted or worse. Lapis seemed to be okay with that, but still she was capable of asking Pearl again since she loved holding Pearl by her fragile hand. It always felt like she touched the smoothest plush in the world.

   Lapis led her to the barn, still amazed that Pearl showed minimal aspect of being scared of the four-legged animals that were staring at them from their stalls, watching them the whole time.

   They finally arrived and Lapis beckoned towards the attic ladder, bowing and gesturing towards it, urging Pearl to go first. “Milady.”

   Pearl held her breath. It always fascinated her how sweet and gentle to her Lapis was sometimes, but why was she like that, she didn’t know – well, until that night probably. Was that Lapis’ intention to make Pearl trust her and make her feel comfortable in her presence so she could reveal her feelings to her later? If ever?

   “Oh, come on, I know you want to see my butt from below.” Pearl joked and softly pushed Lapis’ shoulder, making her blush on the spot.

   “Uh, n-no! No. No, no! Pff…” Lapis waved it off and frowned with a stupid grin on her face. She looked aside just to avoid Pearl’s gaze, but Pearl looked satisfied as if she made out what Lapis’ intention was and so let Lapis eat her heart out with it, leaving her standing there, still peering to nowhere.

   Pearl grabbed the ladder bar and began to clim up carefully. Lapis only managed to exhale heavily, but quietly enough not to let Pearl hear it. She bit her lip and kept rubbing her forehead, also partly shading her vision, staring sharply down and trying her best not to look up while Pearl was climbing the ladder. A drop of sweat then rolled over her tightened lips as she was munching them tensily.

   “Watch your head!” She then called while staring down, but it was already too late because she could hear a loud bang right after she said it. She then heard Pearl mumble something under her nose.

   “Are you okay?” Lapis looked up finally, finding Pearl who was rubbing her forehead.

   “Um, yeah… I’m fine.” She smirked, but still the pain in her face was quite visible.

   An apologizing smile curled up on the smaller girl’s face, she then grabbed the ladder bars and climbed up to Pearl, also watching her head.

   It appeared to be wall of hay built right in front of them, but on the farther left side of the wall, there was a gap leading to the small area behind the hay wall. The gap was a door-sized entrance and placed behind a corner, so no one could see into the inside from the ground and nor from the tiny attic vestibule. Usually, Lapis maintained the entrance to her place right in front the ladder and usually she didn’t even build a wall of those haystacks. They always build a wall of them when a hay consighment is delivered to the stable once per month. Peridot and Lapis always take the hay from the middle part of the wall, so it always restores Lapis’ regular entrance to the attic after some time so she can see the stable interior again after that. The attic roof was bevelled from the right and the back side, the left wall was separating the attic from the second part of it behind the door there. Lapis kept the door partly open so the hay from the other room could ventilate. There also was another reason why Lapis kept the room open.

   “Come, I want to show you something.” Lapis whispered and blinked at her.

   After Pearl nodded in agreement, she followed Lapis and remembered to walk quietly. First, Lapis led her to her place; there were many other haystacks behind the hay wall, but there also was a large, raised cozy nest repleted with straw, with blanket and some pillows settled in it, shelf and a bulb hanging from the ceiling.

   “Welcome to my place.” Lapis said in a half-voice. Pearl just couldn’t believe how nice it actually was in there, how snuggy it seemed, though the ceiling was quite low for Pearl. With her height she couldn’t stand there straightened, but it didn't bother her because for some reason she felt so nice in there. It was really comfortable and it felt like home; just like Lapis told her.

   “So, what do you think?” Lapis put her hands on her own hips, giggling at how amazed she looked.

   “It really is so comfy in here.” She glanced round the room. It wasn’t big, but wasn’t small either. It was just right and comfortable enough to spend a night there. Pearl let out a dreamy sigh.

   “So, you ready to continue in our journey?” Lapis asked again in whisper.

   “There’s more?” She turned to her excitedly, but then let out another question. “Why are we even whispering?”

   “Shh-shh.” Lapis softly pressed her finger against Pearl’s smooth lips and smiled. “Come.”

   They continued to the other room that was way darker than Lapis’ place because she at least had a small window there. That room was as narrow as the attic, but it was longer and had only one window on the opposite side. It was really quiet in there, but as they continued further, a soft, weak cheeping could be heard, and it was becoming louder and louder as they were wading through the straw to the other side of the room, but still that cheeping was quiet enough to be easily missed.

   Pearl silently gasped in excitement and covered her mouth. There was a little swallow nest attached to the roof’s inside corner. The roof was low enought for both girls to look inside the nest, and what they found in there only made tears appear in Pearl’s eyes.

   There were five of little swallow baby birds slightly covered in fluff, pink as a small rose bud. They were so tiny, so weak and fragile for girls to carry them. Pearl couldn’t help herself but sniff and wipe her eyes.

   “Lapis…” She covered her mouth once more. “They are so beautiful…” Now Pearl remembered those swallows she saw the day when she came to the barn after the accident. Those swallows were their parents; that’s why Lapis kept the door open. It was for their parents; their mother to be able to feed them and take care of her little babies.

   “Sometimes, when their mother isn't coming, I come and feed them.” Lapis sighed softly, beaming. “It’s such a beautiful feeling knowing that someone needs you.”

   The taller girl glanced over at the other girl leaning her palms against her thighs and smiling at those cute, little creatures. “Ah, Lapis…” Pearl sniffed again and put her hand onto Lapis’ shoulder, making her straighten and look back at her. With a hum, Lapis raised her eyebrows.

   Pearl chuckled. “How many secrets do you have yet? It just… it keeps me amazed how wonderful you are…”

   Lapis snickered, doubting, although she knew that Pearl meant it seriously. She always did. “And what makes me so wonderful in your opinion?”

   ‘ _To be honest, it’s your whole being_.’ Her cheeks flushed a bit. “You’re so… thoughtfull and… so kind and nice. You’re always helping others.”

   It only made Lapis chuckle again, but she took the compliments by her heart. “… So are you.” She gave Pearl an honest smile and after a moment, she looked back at the nest. “We should be going… and let those cuties have some sleep.”

   Pearl nodded and followed Lapis to the attic, watching her every step and trying to do as less noise as possible.

   Once they arrived back to the attic, it made Pearl stop for a few moments, and Lapis wondered why.

   “Pearl?” She addressed her and managed to stop in front of the entrance to her place, but Pearl still kept staring forth. She then smiled.

   “I wish I could have a place like this…” A dreamy sigh escaped her mouth. “It just feels so peaceful here.”

   Lapis slowly came to her, slightly brushing her shoulder. “You can always come to my place.” She offered softly. “… How about… spending a night here tomorrow? Would you like to come?”

   Pearl’s eyes widened in a small shock. ‘ _Spend a night?’_  She wasn’t expecting something like this, but she really wished she could. Well…

   Pearl frowned a bit, bitting her lip. “Unfortunately, I have some plans tomorrow. It’s our together Thursday and I can’t skip it again.”

   “Oh… I understand.” Lapis hummed and then they went silent for a while, but just until Pearl spoke again.

   “But I could come on Friday if… that’s okay with you?” She finally turned her head to Lapis who was already so excited about it and grinning. She took Pearl by her hand.

   “You know it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl made a physical contact with Blue  
> • Pearl was shown Lapis' place in the attic  
> • Lapis showed a swallow nest to Pearl
> 
> ♦ 10th week (Wednesday)


	13. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive content

   This time, Pearl arrived by her good old bike since she knew that she wasn't going to come back home at late night today. When she appeared in the large equestrian area and came near to the _T_ _-_ shaped building, she led her bike inside to make sure that no one steals it from her once the bike‘s out of her sight.

   She inhaled slowly and entered the main part of the building where horse stalls were. She was lucky that this time she actually saw Lapis there. At that moment, she was on the other side of the hall and carried a bridle in her hands. Lapis left Blue’s stall and headed to the tack room. She hasn’t noticed Pearl yet so Pearl had a perfect chance to surprise her.

   Pearl creeped along the corridor and as she appeared near the tack room, she silently slipped her head inside, finding Lapis who was placing the bridle on its place right above Blue’s saddle resting on one of the metal rods protruding from a wall. Pearl tried to make as less noise as she could and came near Lapis who had no slightest idea that Pearl was quietly lurking behind her back with a wide smirk on her face. Once Pearl was close enough to her, she jumped right after Lapis, tossing her arm around her chest and cupping her mouth. Lapis winced in horrify and nearly began to scream, but gladly she realized that this was just Pearl who surely didn’t have any bad intentions to do with her.

   Lapis turned her head and found Pearl snorting and chuckling softly, but still she had her back turned to the taller girl. She took Pearl’s hand into hers and removed her thin hand from her mouth so she could speak.

   “Geez, Pearl, you scared me!” She frowned, but laughed.

   “I know.” She wiggled her thin, light eyebrows. “That was the purpose.”

   Lapis blushed at it and took Pearl’s other hand. She was holding both her hands now and slowly she hugged herself with them, feeling comfortable and safe, almost invulnerable. Nobody could doubt that this gesture made Pearl’s cheeks turn red, too.

   Standing in silence, Lapis laid her head onto Pearl’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She couldn’t remember when in the past she actually felt as comfortable and nice as she did now. Even when she was dating someone a few years ago, it had never been like this back then. Sometimes, Lapis wondered how in the world she could even love that person; she was toying with Lapis as if she was a poor, unneeded toy and never showed the slightest hint of interest in her feelings, she never gave her a shoulder to cry on and never gave her a true hug or kiss. Now from the time distance, Lapis saw how foolish she was that she let herself be harmed from the inside because of that person, but now she was glad that everything was over and that the certain person won't cast any more trouble again. At least she hoped.

   “How was the together Thursday?” Lapis lifted up her head to see Pearl after her moment of contemplation.

   Pearl let out a grin. “It was nice as always… and-uh…” Pearl then paused for a while, she freed herself from Lapis’ tender hold of her hands, and made Lapis turn to her.

   “… Amethyst reached eighteen years and… we would like to invite you and Peridot to the birthday party we’re fixing for her at Garnet’s place.” She bit her cheek from the inside and looked aside slightly.

   Lapis just held her breath for a few seconds. “Really? Well, that’s so sweet of you, guys…” She furrowed her eyebrows thankfully, smile on her cheeks. “But Peridot, too? I didn’t know they know each other.”

   “They don’t… personally.” The pale-skinned girl explained with a soft chuckle. “But I’ve been talking about you two too much and… I thought that Peridot might get through to Amethyst. Their sense of humor is kinda similar.”

   An alarm button was then pressed in Lapis’ head as she just imagined two Peridots and their lightly sascastic sense of humor. But she thought if Pearl was sure that it won’t be a total disaster, she could try to trust her and give it a chance.

   “Oh, then… we’ll be more than glad to join you.“ Lapis grinned. “But you’re about to give me Garnet’s address.”

   “Will do.” Pearl saluted and made Lapis snicker.

   Lapis always made Pearl’s heart nearly explode while she was laughing or just smiling at her. Lapis' smile was just so enchanting and beautiful to her, she always felt like she saw an angel smiling sweetly at her with those big, sparkling eyes full of happiness, honesty and friendliness. Pearl always looked at her so dreamily, just like Lapis did look at her.

   Lapis allowed herself to take Pearl by her hand and then she slowly led her to Blue’s stall to finish her work. It didn’t take long to get there since Blue’s stall was near the exit and on the same side of the builing as tack room.

   “Aren’t you afraid that she runs away?” Pearl asked as she found the stall gate wide open, but Lapis just chuckled at that.

   “I’m not. She loves me too much to leave me behind.” She then let go of Pearl’s hand and turned on her heels, making a few steps backwards and informing Pearl that she’ll be right back after grabbing some hay from the attic so she could feed her mare. Pearl nodded at that and cupped the front of her elbow with her palm. Right after Lapis turned away from her and left, Pearl realized that Blue had her head completely out of the stall and was intently staring at her even without a single blink of her eyes. Pearl winced as she found her like that and made a few steps backwards, but Blue didn’t do anything about it; just softly snorted. Several ideas of what could possibly happen occupied Pearl‘s mind. The stall was wide open and the horse wasn’t even attached to anything so it could easily escape and run right after Pearl, bit her, kick her or anything else what Pearl could imagine. Pearl clenched her fists and teeth tightly and was ready for any kind of thing to happen, but to her surprise, the mare was deadly calm. Blue was just standing there; sometimes she waved her tail or turned her ears to a different direction, although it was mostly towards Pearl.

   The girl suddenly felt as if she was missing something. The longer Pearl stared at that horse, the more she had a feeling, or rather a need, to touch it again. After some time, she realized that it wasn’t that bad back when she in fact touched her muzzle for the first time. She recalled the feeling back then; the feeling of victory against her fear. She’d like to perceive it again and rejoice, but still, Pearl was in a doubt and probably didn’t have guts to touch the horse again; especially when Lapis wasn’t anywhere near to resque her if something bad happened. But then, Pearl clenched her fists more and took a deep breath. She made one small, doubtfull step towards the horse. She swallowed hard and slowly she started to move her hand up.

   Even when it hardly at all was in Pearl’s nature, she wanted to get rid of her fear once and for all. She’s been visiting the stable for more then a month and she could see better results every single day. She couldn’t afford to be scared as some little child and yet right in front of Lapis whose life was probably only about horses. Pearl wondered what Lapis was thinking about her; perhaps that she was a total fool? But Pearl wanted to win. She wanted to win against herself and overcame her fear, get a little closer to her friend.

   “Okay, girl…” Pearl swallowed once more, moving slowly forward and lifting her hand up to meet the horse’s dark muzzle with a small, white snip between her nostrils. “I’m not gonna hurt  _you_  and you’re not gonna hurt  _me_ , okay?”

   Pearl found it funny when Blue blinked at her as if she understood. Pearl bit her lip and slowly approached the horse, but still she was in a safe distance from it, her hand was fully stretched and she was still moving forward. Even when Pearl was lightly shaking, she was determined, shifting her body forth, firmly forcing herself to go on.

   The target was within reach and Pearl took one last deep breath, clearing her mind from dark thoughts.

   Her palm finally met the horse’s smooth skin and Pearl held her breath for several long moments. She didn’t dare looking Blue into her eyes. She rather stared at her hand and hoped that Blue won’t eat her alive. At that moment, the girl’s hand immediately stiffened, but it didn’t last long when Pearl realized and admitted that it actually wasn’t that bad. She then managed to gingerly move one of her fingers and displace it to a side, feeling Blue’s warm and soft skin.

   Blue was breathing calmly and allowed Pearl to rest her hand on her muzzle without making any unexpected movements. She breathed hot air out of her lungs and so it lightly tickled Pearl’s bare forearm.

   Pearl blinked several times and assured herself that she wasn’t dreaming. A corner of her mouth slightly turned up in smile. ‘ _I did it…_ ’ Pearl breathed out and started to chuckle. A big bright smile appeared on her cheeks and then she started to chuckle even more. She became so happy, she felt free, now when she was breaking those barriers that were prohibiting her from escaping their prison.

   Soon, a muffled rustling sound of hay falling down onto the floor echoed through the hallway and Blue, quickly like a shot, straightened her long mahogany neck and turned her head towards the barn where Lapis threw an arms of hay down from the attic. Pearl winced slightly because of the mare’s sharp movement and also turned to Lapis who slid down the ladder, taking the pale of hay into her arms and heading to Blue’s stall to fill her feed trough.

   “Pearl!” Lapis addressed her in amazement when she finally got to them. “You did it again!”

   “Um… yeah.” Pearl shifted aside so Lapis could enter the stall.

   With a gentle push of her shoulder against her horse, she moved the animal to a side and threw the hay into the trough. “That was so cool! I didn’t know you actually had guts for that.” She snorted and after leaving the stall she closed its heavy gate.

   “To be honest…” Pearl chuckled faintly and rubbed her forearm. “Me neither…”

   “I’m so proud of you!” Lapis smiled honestly and gave Pearl one big hug, silencing her and leaving her entirely breathless.

<•••>

   The front entrance to Lapis’ place was slowly widening and soon it will be as pretty as always. Lapis let Pearl enter the attic room first and then followed her in.

   The day slowly turned into night as Lapis cleared Blue’s hooves and broomed the stable hallway with Pearl who offered helping Lapis with cleaning the stable after the long day. And now, when they arrived into the attic, there wasn’t as much light as the last time Pearl visited the room, but still the interior was well visible.

   “Just now I realized that you’re actually the first person who visited me here.” Lapis announced, standing by Pearl’s left side.

   “Really?” She turned her head to her friend for a while, but then again glanced over the attic. Nothing has changed; well, maybe just the blanket and pillows were organized differently than before.

   “Yeah… even my date had never been here.” Lapis sighed and stepped forward, heading to her hand-made nest.

   Suddenly, a shock ran through Pearl’s body. She stared to nowhere for a while, thinking. ‘ _A date? Wait, is Lapis dating someone?'_  She lowered her eyes in dissapointment. ‘ _Of course she’s dating! How couldn’t she? How have I never thought of it? Why am I so dum–‘_

   “–Pearl?” A tender voice then broke the silence. Lapis was now sitting in her hay bed and worriedly gazing at Pearl as she didn’t receive any answer before.

   “Oh-um… I’m sorry.” Pearl forced a giggle. “I just remembered something.” She lied in whisper and rubbed her nape.

   Lapis hummed and then stretched her hand, grabbed some paper box from the small shelf nailed to the wooden wall, pulling it down.

   It seemed as if she missed Pearl’s responce or that she wasn’t paying much attention to it, but Pearl was rather glad for it at that moment.

   “Come on. You don’t have to stand there all night.” Lapis snickered and patted the spot beside her. She then waved with the paper box above her head. “I brought some cookies for us.”

   Pearl gave her a half-smile and approached Lapis’ large nest so she could sit there. “That’s so sweet of you, Lapis, but… I can't… I’m alergic to gluten.” She sighed right after she sat down beside the other girl.

   “What?” Lapis asked, eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. “You're alergic?”

   Pearl shifted a bit, making her position more comfortable, and looked at Lapis. “It’s called celiac disease. I can’t eat anything made of cereals.” Pearl explained.

   Lapis froze, feeling sorry for her. Suddenly, she perceived how strict and limited Pearl’s diet must be. Lapis couldn't even imagine life without eating any common food since cereals were literally everywhere but special-prepared pieces of food. “Oh, Pearl…“ She exhaled and lowered her eyes. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t know”

   Pearl sighed through her nose, but smiled. “That’s fine, I’m used to it. But thank you anyway. You’re sweet.”

   The equestrian hummed. She put the box back onto its place and saved it for later, but she decided to replace it with gluten free ones once this box is empty.

   “So basically… you can‘t eat almost anything.” Lapis then clarified. She slowly shifted closer to Pearl. She loved being near her, especially now when she could finally afford it. She wanted to take her hand, but managed to stop herself from doing it. She was always afraid if it wasn't bothering Pearl too much.

   “Basically… no.” Pearl admitted and laughed briefly. Soon, she noticed Lapis being close to her. It didn’t bother her, but rather the opposite. She always enjoyed Lapis’ presence. Her presence was different than perhaps Garnet or Amethyst’s. This was more… close, compassionable and familiar. Also the occasional silence between them two was so comfortable and harmonic; not like the silence between Pearl and Amethyst sometimes, for example. This was different.

   Pearl tilted her head to a side and looked at Lapis, wondering what she was doing in the present silence. Was she thinking about something? And if so then what it was?

   Pearl’s eyes weren’t adapted to the local dark just yet so she couldn’t tell which way was Lapis looking, but she knew that Lapis had her head turned to her; and she was close, too.

   Pearl was still thinking about their kiss; she felt like the kiss was still lasting, she felt the exact feeling that she felt back at that night. She had butterflies in her stomach, head spinning and her cheeks were burning like a hot stove. She wondered if Lapis was thinking about the same sometimes – if ever.

   The longer they were staring at each other like that, the closer they were. Lapis was recalling those thousands of stars she saw back then; when her eyes rolled backwards in bliss during their first kiss. Now she could feel Pearl’s lava-hot breath, her delicate body vibrations that were harmonically pulsing and overwhelming her own body.

   Lapis dared moving a bit closer. She was calmly breathing out hot air throught her nose. The air was tenderly brushing Pearl’s pale cheeks, lips and her chin. Every few long seconds, Lapis looked up to Pearl’s eyes to make sure that everything was okay and so she could continue, looking back down at her thin lips once again.

   Pearl had her mouth lightly open, but opened it a bit more as Lapis’ lips parted and breathed some air into her mouth. Pearl’s breath then started to tremble when her heart beat speeded up. Chills ran through her entire body, although she wasn’t even cold, quite the contrary.

   She sensed Lapis slowly closing her eyes, making Pearl shiver. For a moment, she lost her breath. Lapis faintly brushed the small curve between Pearl’s nose and cheek with a tip of her nose. This time she let Pearl to finish what she started.

   The taller girl had no idea if she was doing it or if her hand started to move on its own, but she placed her hand onto Lapis’ which was resting on Lapis' knee. Delicately, she petted the back of Lapis’ palm with her long fingers, then slowly moved them to Lapis‘digits, continued along their length to her polishless nails and then back up in a slow pace.

   Sudden goosebumps ran along Lapis’ arm as Pearl was gingerly moving her hand up and softly brushing Lapis’ skin with her fingertips, continuing to Lapis’ shoulder, and once she finally got there, she slid down her bare forearm once more, really slowly and carefully.

   ‘ _Don’t tease… please, don’t tease_.’ The equestrian swallowed hard, her whole body was shivering in impatience, her heart bouncing in her chest. Lapis still had her dark eyes shut, trying not to open them and look down at Pearl’s hand that was tenderly stroking her whole arm with a feather-light touch, again and again.

   But finally, after Lapis succesfully overcame this sweet torture, Pearl leaned forward and for the second time she brushed Lapis’ heart-shaped lips with her own and closed the space between them. She didn’t press her lips against Lapis’ entirely yet, but was only softly brushing against them from side to side as slow as she could, making Lapis groan impatiently.

   “… Pearl…” She breathed out in whisper, now unable to keep her eyes closed.

   The skinny girl slid down Lapis’ arm for the last time, making another goosebumps appear on her tanned skin, and laced their fingers. She finally pressed their lips together; nor loosely, nor hard, but softly enough not to feel like a ghost or too hard to bend Lapis back. She kissed her. She was actually kissing her; again, though she had no slightest idea how to do it because she never had any chance to kiss anyone before. Now she had to work with her fantasy and imagination and try not to embarrasse herself because of her inexperience.

   Although Lapis thought that Pearl’s kissing technique was absolutely amazing, she wasn’t fully satisfied yet. She missed something. The slight touch of Pearl's hand was really comfortable and satisfying, but not entirely. Lapis wanted to touch her a bit more. She wanted to feel a little bit more of Pearl’s body, but she knew that she had to be careful and that she couldn’t make any silly or quick decisions, but since Pearl was teasing her so nicely, Lapis lifted her arms and wrapped them around Pearl’s neck gingerly, making the space between them yet smaller and more intimate. She ran her fingers through Pearl’s peach hair and rubbed between it in adequate amount of pressure, stroking and fondling it with care, remembering to keep her lips pressed against the other one’s, softly sucking the smooth flesh.

   It wasn’t like Pearl didn’t like it; she loved it, but she had a bad feeling about it. She was confused about what Lapis said earlier about her date. Pearl frowned slightly. ‘ _If she’s dating someone, then why is she doing this_? _I don’t want her to be cheating on someone because of me_.’ Pearl shared one last breath with her and then pulled away a little, but tried to keep Lapis’ arms still around her. It just felt so good, so pleasant. She so wanted Lapis to touch her the way she did again.

   Lapis still longed for her. She longed for her lips, for her kisses. She leaned forward to steal another kiss from Pearl, but the girl refused and turned her head aside.

   ‘ _Oh no… I went too rough on her… damn you, Lapis!’_ Lapis pulled back immediately and removed her arms from Pearl. “Pearl, I… f-forgive me, I… I shouldn’t–“

   “–No! It’s fine… it wasn't your fault.” She looked at her, but only for a brief moment before her eyes dropped down.

   Lapis let out a sigh of relief and let her tensed muscles and mind relax, but then chills washed her body when Pearl exhaled sorrowfully and lowered her eyes.

   “Pearl, what’s wrong?” She asked softly and tilted her head so she could see into her face, though it was quite dark.

   Pearl sighed and looked up to Lapis again. She swallowed, her cheeks turned red. “I just… I don’t want you to be cheating on someone because of me.”

   Lapis froze in a slight shock, but then started to giggle at that idea. “Cheating on whom?”

   Pearl just gave her a confused look.

   “I'm-I’m not dating anybody.” She continued chuckling softly. She lifted her hand and stroked Pearl’s cheek with the back of her fingers.

   “But you said–“ Pearl tried, but was interrupted.

   “–It was two years ago, Pearl. I’m no longer with anyone.” Lapis explained and petted Pearl’s cheek once more. It surprised Lapis how Pearl cared about such little things; namely not to make anybody suffer or make them feel betrayed. Pearl was that kind of person who didn’t want to make any harm or hurt someone. She was just too carefull about things like this and Lapis really appreciated that.

   “But hey, it’s so sweet of you.” Lapis smiled at her thankfully and her hand, which was resting on Pearl’s cheek for a while, moved down and took Pearl’s thin hand.

   Pearl breathed out a sigh of relief and a smile curled up on her face along with a bright blush. She hummed shyly and lifted her eyes to meet Lapis’ ones. Now she felt more relaxed as everything was clarified. For some reason, she was glad that Lapis wasn't dating, but why was she? Pearl was then quite scared and shy to admit the reason to herself.

   This time, Pearl was really glad that she didn’t have to go home and leave Lapis again. She loved the idea that she may spend with her the entire night and that she doesn’t have to worry about coming home on time. She wished for every night to be like this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis and Peridot were invited to Amethyst's birthday party  
> • Lapis found out about Pearl’s celiac disease  
> • Pearl spent a night at Lapis' place
> 
> ♦ 10th week (Friday)
> 
>  **PS:** Hello there, guys! :3 I'm gonna take a little break from constant writing and think about what will happen next with those two now. :D ;) Also, this is my final year in high school and I'll have a lot of stuff to learn and study, so I probably won't have much time for writing this year. T___T But I promise I'll try to post at least one chapter per month! ^w^  
>  • Thank YOU so much for reading my fanfic, for your support and comments, I really appreciate that and I love you all very much! :* :3 Have a nice day! ;)


	14. Just Small Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive content

   The sun already rose up and poked its beams through the little attic window, stroking Pearl’s pale cheek and shoulder. Pearl felt something jabbing her as she was lying on her right side. She noticed she was covered in warm, smooth blanket; a familiar blanket. She now realized that she woke up lying in hay, curled up in the soft cover Lapis lend her so Pearl wasn’t cold at night.

   How beautiful and sweet thought popped up in her mind; waking up next to someone and not only next to her cat felt just delightful.

   Pearl lightly opened one eye, counting with seeing Lapis beside her, but her vision was completely blurred and she couldn’t recognize any single thing. She blinked several times to get rid of the mess in her eye and opened the other one as well, but for her surprise, Lapis wasn’t there. Pearl frowned at the sunlight that was welcoming her and leaned back onto her elbows. She glanced round the room, but she was the only one in there; Lapis was gone and Pearl wondered where she went.

   The room was covered in muffled light, except for the small stripe of bright light breaking through the window and falling right onto freshly awakened Pearl. But she didn’t mind. Pearl loved sun, especially when it was waking her up with its warm beams, although Pearl always had to get used to the sharp light for the first time. She enjoyed it because it was happening only once per day and one can't be sure if the sun appears the next day again. Sometimes, she wondered what would it feel like if the sun never appeared again, how would life in a complete darkness be like. Pearl loved making theories and philosophies about great amount of different things all the time, but mostly when she was alone and nobody was keeping her company, she had plenty of time to think. Yes, Pearl loved small things, and those small things always made her feel happy and positive for whole day; such as sun or its beautiful light.

   Pearl heard the ladder creak a bit and after that she recognized quiet footsteps slowly approaching her, but she couldn’t see who it was because the person was walking behind the wall of hay blocks. But as soon as the person emerged in the middle of the entrance, Pearl smiled happily from ear to ear and let her cheeks turn red.

   It was Lapis; in her right hand she carried a mug filled with hot fluid and in her other hand she was holding a paper box, but Pearl couldn’t see what it was and rather then paid more attention to Lapis at that moment.

   “Look who’s awake; our Sleeping beauty.” Lapis chuckled and stepped forward to meet her friend.

   “Morning, Lapis.” Pearl blushed a bit more and sat up. Later, she removed the straw adherent on her shirt and then put her intertwined fingers into her lap covered under Lapis’ blanket.

   “Good morning.” She blinked and kneeled beside Pearl, still holding the mug and the paper box. “Did you sleep well?”

   “I can’t complain.” Pearl shook her head faintly. She heard barking from the floor bellow and turned towards it, realizing that she hasn’t seen Pumpkin some time in a while.

   “I‘m glad to hear that.” Lapis shifted a bit and made Pearl look back at her as she spoke. “I brought you some tea; a green tea, the way you like it.” She said knowledgeably and handed Pearl the mug. Pearl could do nothing but gasp and thankfully accept the mug. “Oh, and…” The equestrian blushed a little and from behind her back she pulled the paper box, also giving it to Pearl, biting her lip. “And-uh… something small to fill your stomach.”

   Pearl gasped in surprise and froze. It was a box of gluten-free raspberry brownies. Pearl just shook her head in disbelief. There was no shop in a long distance from this place and nor even a shop with gluten-free products about which would Pearl probably know. Lapis should’ve gone so far just to bring Pearl breakfast which wasn't going to kill her after consuming it. She really had to care about her, Pearl thought.

   “Why, thank you, Lapis…” She just frowned in disbelief and shook her head again. “Where did you…”

   Although Pearl seemed really emotional at that moment, Lapis snickered and forced Pearl to take the box. “It was nothing… just small things.”

   “But, Lapis–“

   “–Shh.” She hushed her softly. “You deserve it.”

   Finally, Pearl managed to chuckle after her serious moment. “How so?” She scanned the box and took a sip of her tea. It tasted incredibly delicious. Good old jasmine tea.

   Lapis shrugged. “You just do.” She grinned and watched Pearl as she was contentedly sipping her tea.

   With her turquoise eyes she was staring at Lapis as her cheeks were becoming hot every next second. Still, Lapis had a slight feeling that it wasn’t because of the tea; and she liked that thought.

   Pearl took one last sip and swallowed, gazing at Lapis for a moment. She then lowered her hands and dropped the mug and the paper box down on her each side of her. She grabbed the blanket, threw it aside and shifted closer to Lapis, grabbing Lapis’ cheeks into her palms and giving her one tasty jasmine kiss onto her lips.

   Lapis swallowed a gasp. For a moment, she thought that she might get used to mornings like this quite quickly.

   She returned a kiss back, but only a little deeper one, and giving her one more after Pearl returned hers again. But then Pearl quickly pulled away, cheeks bright red. She bit her lip.

   “Um… sorry, I just… let myself be carried away a bit.” She rubbed her nape nervously, but it only made Lapis giggle.

   “Pearl, please just… stop being that cute.” She poked the skinny girl’s shoulder gently.

   Pearl swore that if she had animal ears, she would turn them backwards and with flushed cheeks she would shyly look aside, pretending she was invisible and nobody could blame her for what she did.

<•••>

   “Those were really delicious, Lapis.” Pearl swallowed the last piece of her brownie while climbing down the ladder. Lapis was already downstairs and trying not to look up at Pearl's bottom

   “I’m happy I made a right choise.” She smiled and leaned against the ladder, crossing her limbs.

   “You did.” Pearl snickered softly. “To be honest, most of the gluten-free products are… well, not too tasteful. And they’re crumbling very often.” Pearl let out a sharp sigh as she jumped down from the third step and landed on her feet, but smiled as she found Lapis standing near her.

   “Looks like I’m gonna learn baking.” Lapis thought aloud and grinned at her friend, squeezing her chin with her fingers.

   “Oh, Garnet is already baking for me. She owns one of these small ovens for gluten-free pastry.” Pearl smiled. “But thank you, you’re really sweet…”

   “Only one of us can be sweet here, girl.” Lapis poked Pearl’s side gently and smirked. The taller girl blushed at it and bit her lips from the inside.

   They shared a few looks before one of them finally spoke again, after a brief silence full of nape rubbing and cheeks flushing darker red every second.

   “So…” Lapis started shyly. Suddenly, a memory of the last night ran through her mind and she forgot to breathe for a moment. She swallowed.

   “So?” Pearl repeated softly.

   How could Lapis just concentrate in her presence? She was in high doubt because of Pearl‘s sweet voice, and yet that cute look on her face was just making Lapis’ heart stop and then beat even faster; it was driving her crazy how just one human could do this to her, how could a human, such a cute person as Pearl, just make her feel this way every time she saw her.

   “I…” Lapis cleared her dry throat. “When… do you have to go?”

   Pearl thought for a few moments, althought she knew what to answer, but wanted Lapis to wait, she wanted her to feel a little impatient once more, she wanted tease her a bit; and it actually quite scared her because she wasn’t thinking about things like this ever before. She even wondered if it wasn’t bad in some way, but still, teasing Lapis made her feel sort of… happy. She was just being playful, right?

   “I actually have no plans for today, soo…” Pearl smirked. She hid her arms behind her back and swung herself on her heels. “We could do something together.”

   Lapis wouldn’t resist to an offer like this, but still, there was something that was blocking her.

   “I’d really love to, Pearl… but I’ve got a lot of work here to do. Peridot isn’t coming today and I have to clean all these stalls by myself. It will probably take all day and you'd only get bored here.” She frowned sorrowfully and let a quiet sigh escape her lips.

   It made Pearl feel sad; seeing Lapis like this. She knew that Lapis was used to it, but what kind of friend would Pearl be without offering her a little help?

   Pearl shrugged playfully and grinned. “Perhaps I could help you.”

   Lapis’ eyes slightly widened. She wondered if she heard that clearly. Wasn't Pearl scared of horses just a little while ago?

   “What? But, Pearl… are you really sure you would walk into a stall? I mean... I don’t want you to have some post-traumatic consequences.”

   “Hey, I’m gonna be there with you, right?” Her confident smile suddenly turned to less confident one and so her grin curled into some strange shape. She almost lost her whole determination of doing it because of Lapis' reminder of her fear. Oh, come on, Pearl just wanted to be a little badass.

   “Pearl…” Lapis took Pearl by her hands carefully; she also couldn’t forgive herself for rubbing the back of her palms with her thumbs. She could feel that Pearl was slightly trembling, those vibrations were permeating through her arms, too. “You don’t have to do it. I’ll be fine. We can go out another time.” She smiled.

   “But I want to…” Pearl blurted and started to shake even more. She just wanted Lapis to accept her offer until her persuasion is whole gone. And there wasn’t much time left until Pearl loses the determination to help her, but she damn wanted to, so why did it take Lapis so long to finally agree?

   “But… look at you. You’re whole shaking!” She stepped a bit backwards just to make sure that Pearl was actually trembling and then looked back at her. “I can’t want this from you.”

   “Those are… just small things.” Pearl finally managed to smile normally again. Her trembling softened. “… I can make it.”

<•••>

   After this kind of experience, Pearl’s back hurt like never before. She only cleaned stall where weren’t horses and Lapis took care of stalls with horses in so Lapis made sure that there was possibly nothing that could harm her friend. Lapis gave her a small education about what should Pearl use and what should she do on the first place and what to do next, but since Pearl had a lot of experience with cleaning, she managed to clear the stalls before Lapis finished cleaning her part of work. And actually thanks to Pearl’s help, they were finished early and so they had some free time to spend together again. Being in the stable actually didn’t bother Pearl, especially not when she was with Lapis. She even started to like that place, but still, the only thing that was always making her scared and worried was Malachite; the giant, unfathomable, pitch-black horse which Lapis described as a schizophrenic being and which, paradoxly, only Peridot had a control of. Peridot was practically the only one whom the horse listened to; even Lapis or Greg tried to make as less contact with that animal as possible. So this time, Lapis left Malachite's stall untouched and left it to Peridot – as always.

   Lapis remembered meeting Malachite for the first time and hated just thinking about it. It was the day when she was cleaning Malachite’s stall without any tips or hints how to do it. That day, Lapis was new in the stable; she was something about ten years old when her mother, Blue Diamond, showed her the stable and horses for the first time with enthusiasm. Lapis barely knew what kind of being Malachite was. Lapis' mother was always telling Lapis to rather keep away from the horse’s stall and reminding her adopted child about how dangerous Malachite could be. But one day, little Lapis wasn’t quite paying attention to what stall she was stepping in. She walked through the gate and started to pick up straw with long, stable pitchfork, but unfornutaly, Malachite wasn’t in one of her best moods and she started to snort and shake her head agressivelly, stomping and kicking the wooden walls around her; yet this wasn’t even the worst part of what was happening. The worst part of it all was that Malachite was blocking the door and Lapis couldn’t run away. She was facing the enormous animal that was nearly three times bigger than her and was loudly whinnying, kicking into everything that was around, lashing its tail and nearly attacking the defenceless and hopeless little child who had no possible chance to escape. So there she was; screaming and crying, curled up in a ball on the floor for an hour, bruised and battered, waiting for someone to come and get her out of that terrifying hell. Since then, she didn’t bother to even feed that horse, not to mention cleaning her stall nor the horse itself.

   “How did you make it so fast?” Lapis breathed out a grin and leaned against the pitchfork handle, looking at Pearl who had her back pressed against the stall wall and stared at her friend amusedly.

   She shrugged in responce and grinned at Lapis. Pearl watched her while Lapis was lightly panting after finishing the last stall and coming back to the wide hallway.

   “I’m used to it.” She folded her hands on her chest.

   “Used to cleaning stalls?” Lapis laughed softly. She put the fork aside and stepped closer to Pearl, realizing that Pearl actually didn’t seem too tired from the hard work. She even wasn’t sweating like Lapis usually was, though she was cleaning stalls every single day. Well, maybe that was the cause.

   This kind of idea sort of scared the tall girl, but she took it with humor. “No, just cleaning.” Pearl shrugged her fragile shoulders again and giggled, watching Lapis as she was still stepping closer to her. “I love it.”

   Lapis broke off approaching to her for a second, but then continued, her smile getting bigger. “Well…” Lapis finally penetrated into Pearl’s personal space and shyly, with red cheeks, she hid her arms behind her back, stretching her neck to get even closer to that skinny girl. “I could possibly abuse your services then, miss.”

   It was happening again. It just happened all of a sudden and Pearl‘s heart started bouncing again in her small chest. Lapis’ closeness always made her feel like this, although almost nothing big was happening. Only Lapis’ deep dark eyes and cute freckled cheeks were happening. Pearl could feel light fainting slowly overwhelming her, knees becoming jelly.

   “O-of course…“ Pearl blurted, all enchanted by Lapis’ sweet gaze. Pearl cleared her throat and shook her head slightly, trying to correctly reformulate what she actually wanted to say. “I mean… what do you mean by the services?”

   It only made Lapis’ smile widen, seeing Pearl’s cheeks slowly turning red along with her light eyes roving round the room nervously.

   “By that I mean…“ She chuckled, making Pearl redden even more. She made the small space between them yet smaller by making one step towards Pearl. “… To abuse your perfect ability to clean, of course.”

   There was no doubt that Lapis’ heart was bouncing as wildly as Pearl’s, it only wasn’t that noticeable for which was Lapis quite glad. She could hide her nervousness perfectly; that was the main trick of all athletes.

   “O-oh…” Pearl let out shiveringly, not bothering with breathing out the small amount of air that was frozen in her lungs. She was pinned against the wall with Lapis almost all over her – well, for Pearl it felt like it at that moment. Lapis was so close to her once again, breathing into Pearl’s flushed face.

   Pearl shivered and bit her lips from the inside, wondering if Lapis was about to get yet closer to her. ‘ _Why am I always getting nervous like this? Why isn’t_ _she_ _?’_ Pearl thought, trying to avoid turning redder. She had to resist that sweet temptation somehow; she couldn’t let Lapis always win against her in this.

   “What do you say?” Lapis whispered. Pearl couldn‘t see any possible way to get more red than she was. She had to bit her lip hard and try to remind calm breathing, thought the question Lapis asked sounded sort of ambiguously. Or was Pearl just thinking dirty?

   “… I-ah.” The girl stuttered while catching a breath as Lapis was still getting closer. What was Lapis’ intention, Pearl wondered silently. Lapis’ eyes were acting as a pendulum, hypnotizing Pearl as a swirling spiral and magnetizing her, forcing Pearl to do whatever was on Lapis’ mind.

   “Pearl?” Lapis addressed her softly, touching the tip of Pearl’s nose with her own, but Pearl wasn’t capable of doing anything but lose her breath. Her muscles tensed, she was whole pressed against the wooden wall. For a moment, she felt like she was a part of it and that she couldn’t separate from it because of the girl who was standing right in front of her.

   “Um…” She sighed lightly right into Lapis’ face, still unable to move. She could feel Lapis' breath on her thin lips; her fresh, mentol breath caused by the chewing gum Lapis used before. Pearl could feel the aromatic wave of mentol breaking into her partly open mouth, continuing down through her throat, her bronchial tubes and filling her lungs. Her lungs straightened, her slim body and muscles tensed, she could feel her heart beat in her throat, she felt her head spinning and knees slightly shaking.

   ‘ _Why is this happening to me? Is this normal? Am I sick? This can’t be…_ ‘ Pearl was killing every next question that cropped up in her fogged mind, but there were still appearing new ones. She couldn’t escape this gorgeously-feeling tortue. She was trapped. She felt like the only way to solve this “ _problem_ ” was to give in, although she didn’t want Lapis to win again. But damn, Pearl couldn’t win. Lapis had superiority in this. This was a lost battle.

   Pearl exhaled carefully and watched the girl’s full, delicious, wonderful lips that were still getting closer and closer. Pearl knew that there was no escape now.

   ‘ _… Okay, I give up, I give up_.’ Pearl closed her eyes slowly. She then cautiously sucked to Lapis’ lips and gave her one gracefull kiss, soon followed by Lapis’ tender one. She could feel Lapis’ boiling breath. Pearl’s nerves were tensed and relaxed at the same time. She enjoyed the harmonic silence between them. A soft, quiet smacking of their lips could be heard as they continued kissing. They were sharing sweet kisses, one after another, with care and passion, silently, gently.

   Lapis’ hands then gingerly traveled onto Pearl’s hips first, keeping them there for a while. She then closed the tiny distance between their bodies entirely, pressing her whole torso against the slim girl, and let her arms surround her waist, squeezing her tightly, but not as much as to actually crush her.

   Pearl flinched slightly as she felt Lapis’ strong abs brushing against her flat stomach. She managed to gasp when Lapis pressed a little bit harder at her and tightened her hug. This just felt like heaven, Pearl thought. Lapis was so gentle, so tender and affectionate to her. Sometimes, Pearl was philosophizing about how she deserved this much care, how she deserved this loving treatment, this kind of touches or even kisses from Lapis. Pearl never felt as if she was someone special and now she felt like she was someone extraordinary. She still couldn’t believe this fact, this reality.

   And while they were kissing, slowly and lovingly, Pearl lifted her arms and wrapped them around Lapis’ neck, pulling her closer and making their kisses deeper. There were still thousands of questions running through her mind, questions that she probably won’t be able to answer.

   Softly, Pearl rubbed that cyan blue hair with her fingertips. It was so smooth, so soft; like a velvet or plush. Pearl was urgently searching in her mind when for the last time she touched something so downy like Lapis’ hair, but she couldn’t remember anything at all. This felt just so heavenly good. She even forgot to repay her kisses to Lapis for a few seconds while she was exploring the ocean with her long fingers.

   Lapis quietly gasped at Pearl’s touch and she also forgot to kiss the girl back for a while. She so loved someone touching her hair and toying with it, and when it came to it, Lapis was automatically under the source’s control and able to crack up, purring and enjoying the contact of her skin and one’s fingers.

   She gasped once more. Her knees then slightly buckled and her body sank into Pearl’s arms. Lapis was still holding onto her with her tanned arms around Pearl’s body, but her knees were becoming weaker and weaker as Pearl was adding to the preasure of her fingers and rubbed between the blue hair locks in circular motions, traveling from side to side and stroking her gently. It only caused Lapis choosebumps all over her body and another soft moan. She hasn’t felt like this for an eternity. The equestrian lowered her head, nuzzling Pearl's neck to rest and enjoy that pleasure for a while.

   “… Lapis?” Pearl interrupted her action for a moment, just to look at her shorter friend who seemed to be standing on her feet only because of Pearl who was holding her, but Lapis came back to her senses and straightened a bit, finally feeling back on earth again.

   “Yes?” She whispered, but when she remembered those delicate fingers that were caresing her so fondly, she appeared back in heaven.

   “Are you alright?” She asked softly and petted her indigo hair again.

   “I’m amazing.” Lapis purred. She tightened her squeeze and snuggled up to Pearl again. “I just love when someone's toying with my hair.”

   Pearl giggled slightly and gave Lapis a small forehead kiss. “So, now I can offer you my services alright.”

   “Really?” Lapis chuckled and nuzzled a bit more, hugging Pearl tightly. “But what makes me so special to deserve this?”

   This question was very easy and simple to answer and the skinny girl just managed to smile widely at that plainness. “Just small things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl woke up in the attic  
> • Lapis was offered a help in the stable  
> • Pearl found out Lapis loves people toying with her hair
> 
> ♦ 10th week (Saturday morning)
> 
>  **PS:** Hey there again! ^w^ It's been a long time since I posted something and it really ruines me, too. :D :| I had this chapter in progress for maybe like 3 weeks, but I wasn't able to finish it sooner because of school… and it's gonna be even worse! ;A; But don't worry, I'll try my best to post something new soon! ^w^  
>  Enjoy and have a nice day/night! ♥


	15. Riding Along With You

   It was a beautiful, early afternoon with sun shining above their heads and basking their skin with its warm beams, cool breeze was caressing their cheeks, their ears and noses and blowing tenderly through their hair.

   Girls were sitting outside the stable on a bench while little Pumpkin was running around, barking and playing fetch with Lapis. Pearl watched them with interest with hands folded in her lap, smile on her face. Sometimes, she was lucky and Pumpkin brought her the whistle ball and started jumping around until Pearl threw the ball away so the little Shiba could chase it.

   Pearl threw the ball far away from them again, further than before. Shyly, she bit her thin bottom lip, her eyes turned to Lapis. “Sooo… what are we up to today?”

   After they finished their work, they could afford almost everything to do. They had plenty of time now and full spectrum of possible activities that they could do together; just choose.

   Lapis pressed her back against the tall, wooden wall and crossed her arms on her chest. She hummed softly. “I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?” She shared a look with her friend and stopped paying attention to the stable Shiba for a moment.

   “No.” Pearl shrugged and started to chuckle. “That’s why I’m asking you.”

   Pearl’s sweet giggling always warmed Lapis’ heart. It was such a pleasant and cute sound of hers, everytime, it made Lapis smile and lose her thoughts for a really long time. And that wasn’t the only thing that made her smile the whole time while she was with Pearl – there was Pearl’s voice; her unique, soft, angelic voice. It was like a drug to Lapis, yet so addictive. It’s a dreamlike sound, almost indescribable; harmonical as violin, tender as harp, playful as flute, soft, full of joy and happiness. It always made Lapis think positively.

   “So?” Pearl narrowed her eyebrows enthusiastically, leaning forward so she could see into Lapis’ face with busy gaze to nowhere.

   “Oh!” The equestrian cleared her mind, shaking her head lightly. Suddenly, she noticed Pumpkin coming back to them with the small rubber ball in her mouth. After she arrived, she let Lapis take the ball and ran after it right as Lapis threw it away again.

   “Ah…” Lapis leaned back, slightly touching the wall, and thought for a while. “How about-uh… how about taking a ride around the area? There’s one pretty place I like coming to.”

   A quick wave of shock washed Pearl just as she imagined herself riding a horse. She immediately lifted her hands in defence and shifted backwards. “I-I’m not riding a horse.”

   “Huh?” The other girl turned to her. She noticed Pearl being quite terrified by that, but Lapis tried to clear it up for her. Of course Lapis wouldn’t think about stuff like making Pearl ride a horse… or would she? “No, I mean…” She exhaled a chuckle. “You could take your bike and I could take Blue for a ride.”

   The taller girl’s cheeks lightly reddened as if she was mistaken. For sure, Lapis wouldn’t force her to such a thing like riding a horse! Ha, that sounded just ridiculous! ‘ _Does it?’_  “Oh, that’s… Yeah. Yeah, well. That’s not bad idea.” She then smiled, accepting the offer, still sort of unsure. But Lapis was going to be there so Pearl had practically nothing to be worry about, right? And it was a warm afternoon today, so what would they do inside?

   Pearl wished for a really long time to get used to Lapis’ Hanover mare. She knew that Blue was a good being, calm and kind, just like Lapis. Yes, Pearl knew Blue for couple of long weeks, but still she felt like she had to find her own way to get a little bit closer to her. Pearl noticed that with every single day it was getting better and better, but she knew that she couldn’t underestimate any situation while being near the mare. Horses were beautiful, Pearl thought, but she still had a great deal of respect to them, too. But since she met Lapis, the door into her heart had opened; ready for new posibilities, people and plenty of new experiences and great times to fill her heart with joy. She was extremely glad for everything that she could experience, that she could be with Lapis who had shown her an entirely new world full of wonderful enjoyments.

   Pearl was ready for the ride, but tacking up Blue took Lapis a few more minutes. She also had to clear Blue's hooves before riding so nothing would hurt her or press against her sensitive soles while walking.

   They finally got in front of the stable and both of them exulted at how beautiful the weather was. Lapis stood next to her horse's left side, she grabbed the reins into her left hand and then placed it onto the pommel, with her right hand she grabbed the cantle, the very rear part of the saddle, then put her left foot into the stirrup, softly she swang up and with a slight slip of the saddle she mounted her horse. Lapis loved the sound of the leather saddle crunching under her. She enjoyed it so much while riding; it was just as calming sound as the sound of clapping hooves.

   “Lapis! Gee, don't do that to me.” Pearl called suddenly, slapping a palm against her forehead, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

   “What is it?" Lapis narrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out what Pearl meant by that. Blue automatically made a few steps forwards as Lapis landed onto the saddle and so Lapis pulled the reins back to make her Hanoverian stop.

   “I thought you were falling! I saw the saddle slip right under you." Pearl clarified, now squeezing both of her bike’s rubber bars tightly.

   “Oh?" Lapis glanced down and found out that nothing unusual happend to the saddle. She looked back at Pearl with a snort. “That’s okay, it’s always doing that. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna fall.”

   “Yeah… I-I see.” Pearl shyly looked aside, cheeks red which of course made Lapis giggle. Pearl looked so cute when she was blushing – always.

   “Um, sorry, it was just a… reflex…“ Pearl tittered awkwardly and weakened her squeeze, her cheeks got even redder. Finally, she lifted her head to meet Lapis again.

   “Hey, that’s fine.” The equestrian chuckled once more. “Actually, it was really sweet of you.”

   The other girl didn’t say anything at that, just kept staring. ‘ _Damn, Pearl… you shouldn’t be overreacting like that. Lapis surely knows what she’s doing.’_

   After they shared a few looks, Lapis gave up waiting for any responce – she could totally forgive that cute and sort of confused looking gaze of Pearl.

   “So, are we ready?” Lapis asked, making the reins free so Blue could start walking after Lapis sinks deeper into the saddle.

   “Yeah, definitely!” Pearl nodded with a shy smile. She then mounted her bike and turned it around so she was facing the same direction as Lapis. She stepped into the pedals and made the bicycle move, riding along with Lapis.

 

   During the ride, Pearl almost entirely forgot about Blue. She cycled so close to her, but wasn’t even paying attention to the horse and wasn’t even scared of anything that could happen while being this close. Well, she was with Lapis and she knew that Lapis wouldn’t allow her horse to harm her. Pearl was too important to her, but still Lapis tried to keep a sensible distance between them. Still, she was about one meter higher than Pearl on her bike, keeping in mind that she had the entire control of her mare and she was responsible for everything that might happen. She wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to Pearl because of her mistake.

   They travelled across a large plowed field and continued along a dirty forest alley decorated with giant conifers. The air in the forest was cool, wind was faintly blowing and birds were loudly chirping. Pearl could already smell the autumn in the air, although it wasn’t even September yet, but it had a light tinge of fall atmosphere.

   It was nice forest path with a mixture of pebbles, twigs and fallen spruce cones. The sun was making beautiful bright stripes of light through the trees, touching the ground and illuminating the path.

   Pearl sighed softly, enjoying the atmosphere and letting the breeze caress her cheeks. “You were right. It  _really_  is pretty here.” She closed her eyes for a moment and rode forward, inhaling fresh air that smelled of wood.

   “I know right.” Lapis admitted. “But it’s not the place I wanted to show you yet.”

   “It’s not?” Pearl opened her eyes and looked at Lapis.

   The girl shook her head and let her cheeks smile at Pearl. “Would you like to see it already?”

   “Yeah, I’d… like to.” The cyclist giggled.

   Lapis then smirked widely. She lifted the reins and pulled them slightly back so they were stretched. “Then catch up to me!” She clicked her tonque several times, squeezed Blue’s side and asked her to trot. With every second step she slightly kickied her mare’s flanks and soon they went to canter. Pearl almost couldn’t catch them growing away, but she managed to step into the pedals and lift herself from the seat, making her feet work faster and trying to get somehow closer to Lapis who was already several long meters away from her.

   “Come on! I can’t see you!” Lapis glanced over at her and laughed, still spurring her horse to run faster, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

   Pearl smirked and although she was already tired from pedaling so fast, she speeded up. She felt as if she was riding Tour de France.

   Lapis was standing in stirrups, still glancing over at Pearl and realizing that she was getting closer and closer by every step. She then turned her head to Blue. “Come on, girl. We can’t let her win!” Lapis clicked her tonque again, squeezed the saddle with her knees and kicked Blue into her sides gently. “Hya!”

   “Oh, come on!” Pearl groaned, but started to laugh. She made her legs move faster and clenched her grip on the handlebars.

   It didn’t take long for Lapis to get to the edge of the forest path. She pulled the reins back, asked Blue to walk and soon they stopped entirely. “Hurry up, you snail!” Lapis chuckled, turning her horse to the left to face Pearl who was slowly approaching them and gulping for air. And finally she arrived, stopping her bike right in front of the horse. Pearl folded her arms on the whole length of the handlebars, hung up her head and started to breathe deeply. She could feel sweatdrops rolling down her forehead.

   Lapis snickered and freed the reins, watching Pearl as she was resting. “Adrenaline, huh?”

   “Kinda.” She breathed out a chuckle and lifted her head, still leaning against the bars. “I just wanted to be nice so I let you win.”

   “Sure.” Lapis snorted softly and gave Pearl a minute to rest. Well, she certainly deserved it.

   “… We’re here.” Lapis then added, making Pearl look ahead. Finally, she realized where they were.

   They were standing on the edge of the woods. The dirty forest path which they had arrived, continued forth, but the forest was decorating it only from the right side and was attached to another part of the forest that was maybe one hundred meters far from the place where they were standing, and then on the girl‘s left side, there was one large flower meadow with an amazing view across its entire length. There was a small city below the hills. It was such a breathtaking view.

   “Oh my… goodness.” Pearl’s light eyes widened and she lost her breath. She couldn’t stop staring, even for a second.

   “Pretty, isn’t it?” Lapis asked and joined her friend who was gazing towards the almost endless space of poppies right in front of them.

   “It‘ so… beautiful.” Pearl sighed dreamily. “We should come here more often.”

   Lapis giggled softly and folded her hands on the pommel, leaning onto them. She let Pearl fully experience the moment of her ecstasy, and after a while she dismounted her horse. Gently, she patted Blue’s fleshy shoulder and let her freely run around. Lapis knew that this was Blue‘s favorite place and that she loved being here, especially with her owner. Lapis on the other hand loved to watch while her horse was happily making wide tails behind itself as it was trotting between the poppies.

   Roughly in the middle of the uncovered path was standing a large, flat rock on which was Lapis usually sitting, watching her Hanover mare and the meadow below her. She loved this place. She could spend here a whole day. And now she was more than happy to share this place with someone else than just her horse.

   “Wanna take a moment?” Lapis placed her hand onto Pearl’s shoulder gingerly. “Or are you coming?”

   “Um.” The tall girl shook her head, finally feeling her feet on the ground again. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

   She rather wasn’t even asking why Lapis let go of her horse. Lapis surely knew what was she doing and Pearl knew that she couldn’t watch her friend‘s every step as if she was her mother.

   Pearl dismounted her bike and followed Lapis forth, walking her bike beside herself.

   After two brief minutes or so, they arrived to Lapis’ rock. Pearl led her bike next to the rock and leaned it against its wall. Lapis then offered Pearl her hand and helped Pearl up, then she climbed up the rock herself and sat next to her friend.

   It really was one of the most beautiful views that Pearl had seen so far. Now she could enjoy it entirely, breathe slowly and deeply and feel the breeze stroking her skin and combing her hair.

   Lapis watched her, rapt. She hugged her knees and put her chin onto them with a soft sigh. “I could sit here all day.” She admitted and looked forward across the hill spreading under them.

   Pearl giggled and also hugged her knees. “You can.” She looked at her friend.

   “Hmm.” Lapis purred and turned her head to Pearl. “I can’t. Someone has to clean the stable and take care of horses, you know.”

   “Wish I could do that instead of you… so you could sit here for how long you wish.” Pearl laid the side of her head onto her knees, still gazing at Lapis enchantedly.

   “Ah, Pearl…“ The equestrian furrowed her eyebrows, all touched by Pearl’s offer, a warm smile on her lips. Lapis slowly stretched her hand and placed it onto Pearl’s back, stroking her fondly with her thumb. “Tell me, why are you always like this?”

   “Like what?” The girl asked softly. She could feel Lapis’ hot palm through her clothes on her skin.

   “Like… being so nice to me. You’re always so… kind and happy. I’ve never seen you mad or sad.”

   Pearl was quiet, but gave Lapis one beautiful wide smile that almost made her heart explode while looking at her. “Well… I have no reason to be sad… when I’m with you.”

   It wasn’t only Lapis whose cheeks immediatelly started to burn, but Lapis was the one whose heart almost exploded again. She only hoped that Pearl couldn’t see her hands nervously shaking.

   “Oh, stop.” Lapis bit her lip hard and with a bright blush on her face she looked aside, taking her hand back. She felt so flattered by that. She felt so happy.

   “Do you want me to stop?” Pearl smirked and poked Lapis’ shoulder, gently enough not to hurt her, but it only made Lapis blush more.

 “N-no, but… I mean… it’s just making me feel… embarrassed.” Lapis tittered, making Pearl giggle at that.

   “… Don’t feel like that.” She whispered which made Lapis turn her head and face her once again, even when she was harshly trying not to show Pearl her flushed cheeks.

   They went into silence for a while; silence like this always made Pearl think, usually about them, about their kisses and adventures that they’ve experienced together, but every question that appeared in her mind was one more important than the other. Pearl wondered how Lapis was feeling about her, how was she feeling about them, about the intimate moments they shared. Or was Pearl the only one who was thinking about “ _silly things”_ like; w _hy would Lapis even think about her?_ W _hy would Lapis think about their kisses_? But Pearl longed for answers. She wanted to know. She was even wondering if Lapis was thinking about all of this in her head, too, and if she was shy to ask Pearl about it.

   “Umm…” Pearl cleared her throat softly after she found courage to speak, however, she was unsure how to formulate her question. “I was wondering-uh… have we ever talked about… dating?” ‘ _… Well, that sounded just stupid… could you even choose worse wording?_ ’

   Lapis immediatelly reacted; she lifted her head, but didn’t look at the girl. This kind of question quite surprised her at that moment. “You mean like… us?” Finally, she turned to her, shyly.

   “Um, n-no, I…“ ‘ _Yes…_ ‘ Pearl then cursed something under her breath, but fortunately Lapis couldn’t hear it. “I just wondered if  _you_  were dating before… and-and I already know you were, so… f-forget that. That was a stupid thought…”

   “Pearl, it's fine. It’s okay.” She assured her calmly, but a wave of nervousness washed her immediately as she remembered what happend two years ago and what was happening several years before that. “I-uh… I was dating once. I was dating an older woman, but I broke up with her two years ago because she was rude and using me as if I was her toy. She didn't care about my feelings nor even about me myself… When I tried to object something, she shouted at me or beat me up. She was really strong and I couldn't do anything against her…” After a moment of thinking, Lapis laughed ironically. “I was always hiding behind horses and convincing Peridot that the bruises I had actually made horses and not Jasper… I was so dumb… thinking that Peridot would believe me that."

   Pearl could do nothing but stare. She just felt so sorry for Lapis. She couldn't imagine experiencing something like that. Pearl always thought that life was just about kindness and happiness, not violence. Her parents and friends were always so nice to her and did everything to make Pearl feel happy and wanted. She was really glad that she didn't become a victim of bullying when she was younger; maybe except for the kids from the kindergarten that were taunting at Pearl because of her passion for space.

   “Lapis, this is terrible, I'm… I'm so sorry.” She petted Lapis's shoulder gently. She so wanted to hug her tightly without letting her go. “I don't undestand how could someone just hurt such a fragile being.”

   The girl sighed through her nose, but smiled at Pearl. “Thank you, Pearl… but fortunately it's over now. I'm fine.”

   “Thank goodness for that!” Pearl couldn't hold it anymore and tossed her arms around Lapis, hugging her.

   Lapis winced slightly because she wasn’t expecting something like this, but she hugged Pearl back, burrying her face into Pearl's neck.

   “You’re so sweet, Pearl… but how about you?” Lapis asked quietly, still holding Pearl in her arms, but the girl pulled back so she could speak.

   “Me? Well…" She laughed. “To be honest, I've never had a chance to date anyone. All girls in my school had _boyfriends_ when they were thirteen… but I was somehow different. I had different interests, I wore different clothes and hair styles and I wasn’t even quite speaking their language. Nobody had interest in me back then… and I guess it's still the same.”

   ‘ _Well, maybe it's not entirely true…_ ‘ Lapis thought in her mind and sighed. “So, wait…” She then interrupted her, but softly. “You're telling me that you've never been dating? Not even once?”

   The taller girl sighed and looked away with a sad expression. “No…” Another sigh escaped her lips. She then turned back to Lapis. “… It’s strange, isn’t it?”

   The equestrian thought for a while, but didn't find anything weird about it; it was just unusual, that was all. She just smiled warmly at her and blinked slowly. “It's not.”

   Pearl snorted at her answer because what Lapis just said she couldn't mean. Pearl knew that. It  _was_  weird for this century not to have a date at her age nineteen; at least for Pearl it was. “But still… sometimes, I feel like I'm too picky. If I wasn't than maybe I would find someone.”

   The blue-haired girl shifted a little to change her position to more comfortable one. “I’d rather call it  _being careful and patient_.”

   Again she made Pearl giggle. Pearl's cheeks turned bright pink and she shyly hugged her knees.

   “But I was wondering…” Lapis continued. “How did you learn to kiss like that then?”

   Pearl could feel her cheeks getting warmer. Well, she wasn't prepared for this kind of question. Her grip on her knees tightened. “Like what?” She asked carefully.

   “Like the way you do.” A playful grin was shining across her freckled cheeks.

   “I would call it  _experimentation_." Pearl lifted her chin proudly.

   “Oh, come on. You're not really telling me that!" Lapis pushed her teasingly, but it only caused her one push back from Pearl.

   “Ah, please… I'm terrible at that–"

   Lapis then cut in. “–Are you joking me? Man, I still have no idea about kissing after a three years long relationship and you're telling me that you're terrible at that?” She laughed at her.

   Pearl couldn't stop herself from joining Lapis in laughing, her belly started jumping from giggling. “Yes, I am terrible.”

   “No, you're not." She objected playfully.

   “Wanna bet?” Pearl challenged her, but soon she realized what she’s actually asked for.

   “With pleasure…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • girls were playing fetch with Pumpkin  
> • Lapis and Pearl took a ride around the area  
> • Lapis found out that Pearl wasn't dating yet
> 
> ♦ 10th week (Saturday afternoon)


	16. Rebirth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • we reached over 1000 views! THANK YOU SO MUCH, GUYS! You're keeping this fanfic alive and thanks to you it's really fun and joy to write this story! ^w^  
> • many thanks to ALL OF YOU! Love you so much and thank you for your support!~ :3 ^///^  
> • enjoy this new chapter and have a nice day/night!
> 
>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive content

   Lapis was leaning towards her slowly, waiting for a kiss, but Pearl froze instead.

   “Um…" Pearl's cheeks turned red and she was still watching Lapis as she was getting closer, but then the girl stopped as she noticed Pearl staring at her.

   “Kiss me, silly." Lapis urged with a smirk. “Or are you afraid of loss?"

   “I… I'm not!" She opposed, but carefully. She didn't want to sound much confident to Lapis to let her possibly heighten the challenge even more.

   “What are you waiting for then?" A soft, but hot breath ghosted upon Pearl's lips. Lapis was so close.

   Pearl swallowed. She scanned Lapis' eager expression. She looked like a predator and Pearl felt as if she was a poor prey that couldn't escape from her. The skinny girl then took her courage, decided to lift her hands and slowly she moved them towards Lapis. Unsurely first, but after gaining a bit of self-confidence, she burried her fingers into Lapis' cheeks and pulled her towards herself, finally feeling the soft flesh of Lapis' lips on her own.

   Lapis then sank deeper into their kiss, wrapping her arms around the other girl's waist. This sudden closeness made Pearl replace her hands from Lapis' face around her neck, then she pulled her tenderly towards herself.

   Pearl’s kisses were soft, so careful and innocent. Her lips were smooth and sweet, sweet as the sweetest fruit in the world; sweeter than honey, sweeter than sugar, sweeter than anything that Lapis could imagine. For Lapis it actually didn’t matter how well Pearl could kiss; the taste of her lips was always gorgeous and satisfying. She simply couldn’t get tired of it. Pearl wasn’t like Jasper; rough, ruthless and mean. Pearl was slow, patient, extremely gentle and affectionate, and that was what Lapis loved about Pearl and what she truly appreciated.

   Everything suddenly went into silence; the breeze, birds and everything around them. The only thing that girls could hear was quiet smacking of their lips as they were meeting and then briefly pulling apart so they could meet again. Pearl chose to be careful and tried not to be too greedy, but Lapis was making it difficult because she was asking for more with every next kiss and with her soft touches on Pearl’s back. Lapis was like a magnet, pulling Pearl closer and closer – and still she didn’t have enough.

      She was kissing Pearl slowly, brushing against her lips with her own from side to side and carefully nibbling it, breathing into her mouth and tenderly scratching Pearl’s back and loins with her fingers.

It was so breathtaking for Pearl. She could feel her heart beat in every single part of her body. Her skin immediately became warm, starting to tremble at Lapis’ light touches.

   Pearl parted their lips after a moment and let out something between a sigh and groan, looking Lapis straight into her dark eyes. She kept Lapis close, staring at her like if she might disappear any second. And while watching, Pearl slowly lifted one of her hands and stroked the girl's cyan hair fondly several times. She was toying with her hair locks, combing between them with her long fingers and massaging the smooth skin under the blue.

   Lapis started to become weak again. Having someone's fingers in her hair just felt so good, but the way Pearl was doing it was just as pleasant as finding a well filled with water in the middle of a great, dry desert.

   She breathed quietly. Everything that Pearl was doing was making goosebumps all over Lapis’ skin. She made an eye contact with Pearl and started to drown in them; in the most beautiful sky-blue color. Pearl’s eyes were hypnotic, as hypnotic as it was almost impossible to look away from them – impossible for Lapis.

   Lapis suddenly grinned sheepishly while staring at Pearl. “I won.” She raised her thick eyebrows.

   The girl hummed inquiringly and stopped scratching Lapis.

   “I won the challenge.” Lapis clarified and gave Pearl one small peck onto her lips.

   “Oh?” Pearl also raised her eyebrows, playful smirk on her face. “And what makes you so sure?”

   The equestrian chuckled. She lifted one of her hands, took Pearl’s hand that was resting in her blue hair and squeezed it fondly. “… You.”

 

   The weather was getting colder with the increasing number of hours, but the rock on which were girl sitting was still warmed up from sunbeams. Pearl didn’t hesitate and laid down onto the rock with joy. She folded her hands under her head which made her shirt roll up a bit, unintentionally exposing her flat belly.

   Lapis rather convinced herself not to look at Pearl and to avoid herself from blushing, but even when she tried her best, it didn‘t help. But since Pearl had her eyes closed, Lapis thought that she could at least afford to look at her just for a second or two.

   Although Pearl’s eyes were shut, she could feel that Lapis was gazing at her. She could simply sense it and that made her blush, too, which made Lapis wince and look away from her instantly because she thought that Pearl saw her staring.

   As they were coexisting silently next to each other, it evoked several questions in Lapis’ mind. Sometimes she glanced over at her friend, sometimes she closed her own eyes and tried to find out what could be possibly Pearl thinking or dreaming about. She wanted to ask her so many questions. It was making Lapis sad that she hasn’t asked most of them yet. She was wondering how Pearl felt about her, how did she feel when they were together and how did she feel when they were not. She wondered if Pearl felt alone like her when they were split and living their own lives. It was making her worried. Lapis had so much to talk about, so much feelings that she wanted to express to her, but she was shy and scared. She wondered and she wished that Pearl was feeling the same. This was Lapis – wistful and melancholic, waiting for the others to notice her, hiding her feelings and not showing them to anybody because she was afraid. She was afraid of people like Jasper who could only misuse her sensitive being for their benefits and their own satisfaction. The last time it happened, it hurt; a lot. The pain was still burried deep inside her, but she wanted to fight it, she wanted to give herself a chance to trust and love again.

   All of those questions made Lapis sigh and so it made Pearl look at her, wondering what happened; if so.

   “Lapis?” Pearl addressed her gently.

   “Yes?” The girl turned to her with a slight blush on her cheeks.

   Pearl frowned sadly and slowly she sat up. “… You look… sad. Is something wrong?” She leaned a bit closer, ready to listen.

 _‘Is it that noticeable_?’ Lapis swallowed the inhale and with a foolish smile she tried to pretend that everything was absolutely okay and that there was nothing to worry about.

   “Nah, everything’s fine. I was just… thinking about… my mom.” She bit her lips from the inside and looked aside.

   It didn’t assure Pearl at all for the first time so she asked the the same question once more, but she then Lapis’ smile seemed way believable then before and so she decided to believe it and let it be; rather not to bother her.

   Although it was sort of boiling in Lapis, she could stand it, but still she wanted to cool it down a little. She wanted to ask something and she hoped that it helps to cool down her brain. However, before Lapis could find a single acceptable question which might relieve her mind after persuading herself to ask, Pearl suddenly spoke.

   “Maybe I shoul’ve asked sooner, but…“ Pearl bit her lip shyly. “Don’t you mind that I’m a girl?”

   Lapis made her eyes widen in surprise. Her answer was rather a question then. “What do you mean?” She wondered and asked Pearl back once more. “… Do  _you_  mind that I’m a girl, Pearl?”

   “No.” Pearl said, sinking into Lapis’ eyes. Finally she smiled. “I don’t.”

   It wouldn’t be Pearl if she didn’t make Lapis smile back; she did. “I don’t mind either.” She chuckled. “I like girls.”

   “… Do you?” Pearl licked her dry lips and cupped her knees with her palms.

   Lapis stretched her arms above her head and then with a smirk on her cheeks she leaned back against her palms. “Do  _you_?”

   “Why are you questioning my questions?” Pearl furrowed her eyebrows, but smiled playfully.

   Lapis shrugged and sniggered. “Because I can.”

   The skinny girl shook her head with an exhale and teasingly she pushed Lapis’ shoulder, grin on her face. “Lapis…”

   “Oh-kay, you got me.” Lapis chuckled. “Yeah, I do like girls.”

   Pearl then shifted a bit closer. The weather was getting cold and Pearl was getting cold as well so she decided to put on her sweater which she had tied up around her waist. “And…” She blushed slightly while rolling the sweater down and stretching it over the hem of her jeans. “How did you find out about it?”

   The other girl giggled at how urgently was Pearl trying not to make herself blush. “Well…” Lapis started, thinking. She looked up at the sky. “It all started when I was seventeen, or maybe even younger when I started thinking about myself like that. I thought that I was attracted to boys, but the only thing I got were just vain attempts with then… including trying these certain things… but later I realized that they don’t satisfy me and so it made me try it with a girl once and… it was something completely different.” Lapis paused for a moment. “Then I started to notice that I was looking more at girls than boys and… I accepted that.” She added in a low voice, giving Pearl a warm smile.

   Pearl froze. She kept staring at Lapis, almost in disbelief. This was completely different story than hers and it made her think about the past. When did she actually realize that she was more into girls herself?

   “How about you? Tell me.” Lapis then asked in interest, and before Pearl could notice it, Lapis shifted a bit closer to her.

   Her soft voice brought Pearl back to earth. She cleared her throat, but didn’t say anything yet because she didn’t know what exactly she should say. Her story was bare and pale as her skin. She didn’t have any experiences like Lapis which she could share with her and that was making her feel ashamed. She quite didn’t want to even talk about it.

   She hung her head and closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to remember anything she could. “I…” She raised her head then, eyes open. “When I was fifteen… I… I don’t know how, but… somehow I was attracted to one woman. She was twenty back then, I think. She was tall and strong and she had beautiful, curly pink hair. She was so kind, loving and gorgeous.” Pearl made a pause, then sighed and closed her eyes for a few seconds until she spoke again. “For a moment… I thought that she might possibly feel the same as me, but when I confided my feelings to her, she started spending less time with me… She told me that I was too young and… and yet that she met someone; a man… She was spending so much time with him and…“ A wave of emotions suddenly washed her. She could feel a great lump in her throat as her rather forgotten memories emerged from the depths of her soul right onto the surface. “I felt so abandoned…“ She said, but it sounded rather like a sob than her regular light voice. She sniffed, remembering all of the memories, remembering everything that happened.

   It was all back again; those moments they spent together, how they were laughing, how they were singing together, when they were watching stars, walking on a beach, reading books in a library, skating in a park… but then, all of a sudden, everything faded away, every single thing was messed up. Everything was gone; the man, the wedding, the childbirth and…  _‘The funeral_ …‘

   Pearl started to tremble, arms wrapped around herself, trying to hold the emotions inside, but this feeling was too strong. She could remember every single thing, she remembered the room where she used to participate therapies after all that happend with Rose, she remembered the deep stress she used to feel, the deep depression, those unstopable streams of tears streaming down from her eyes.

   Her stomach twisted and her head suddenly started to hurt.

   While Pearl was calmly telling her friend her own story, Lapis leaned back against her elbows and listened to her with interest, but suddenly Pearl went into silence that caused giving her Lapis’ attention. Lapis immediately realized that something wasn’t right. She sat up quickly and found Pearl quietly sobbing with tears on her pale cheeks.

   “Pearl!” Lapis’ heart jolted. She sat right next to her friend and grabbed her arms into her hands with a firm squeeze. “What is…“ She noticed that Pearl was shaking, she could even feel her cold skin through her sweater as she was holding her. Instantly, Lapis wrapped her arms around the skinny girl and pulled her towards herself, hugging her tightly.

   “I… I’m…“ Pearl sobbed aloud, she clenched Lapis’ cotton t-shirt in her fists, burrying her face into her friend’s chest. “I’m… I’m so sorry!” She cried. “I couldn‘t… hold it anymore.”

   “Shhh-shh, it’s okay… it’s okay.” Lapis squeezed her even more, petting Pearl’s hair fondly and whispering soothing words into her ear. “It’s fine. I’m here. I’m here.”  _‘Damnit! Why did you even ask her that?! If you didn’t, this wouldn’t happen!_ ’ Lapis cursed to herself.

   “I’m s-sorry… L-Lapis.” Pearl weeped.

   “No-no, don’t be sorry.” Lapis said; nearly sounding as if she gave Pearl a command. “You have to get it out.” Her grip then got stronger and she pressed her lips against Pearl’s cold forehead, holding it there for a long moment and giving Pearl the tiniest kisses onto her skin. “I’m here… I’m here for you.”

 

   At least Lapis’ body was warm so Pearl could get warm quite quickly because of it. Pearl wasn’t afraid to nuzzle up to Lapis, but exactly the opposite. She welcomed her tender squeeze and the warmth of her strong body. Her hug was tight and fond at the same time; it felt as if Pearl was wrapped in wings of a loving angel. She could feel the positive and calming energy around herself and Lapis; it was like if they were surrounded by pure love and peace.

   Pearl couldn’t believe it, but since she practically cracked up Lapis was kindly stroking her – maybe for a good hour. Lapis was still tenderly petting her, whispering reassuring words to her, swinging them both lightly back and forth and silently hushing Pearl to make her loose her tensed mind.

   Pearl felt way better and calm now, she enjoyed being in Lapis’ affectionate arms. She was fine, but still every so often she sniffed and wiped her nose. She was also stroking Lapis with her thumb while she was squeezing the fabric of her shirt soaked from Pearl’s tears.

   “… Lapis?” Pearl murmured, wiping her eyes. They still hurt, they were swollen and red.

   A great weight was lifted from Lapis’ heart as she finally heard Pearl speak again. She let out a deep sigh of relief and her hug slightly tensed once more. “Yes, dear?”

   Suddenly, a smile appeared on Pearl’s cheeks; small one though, but it was there. One last tear rolled down her cheek, but this time it was a tear of happiness and later it even made Pearl‘s smile widen. “Thank you for being here.” She sniffed one last time, then she slowly placed her arms around Lapis’ waist and hugged Lapis back.

   “I will always be here for you, Pearl.” The equestrian slightly pulled back to see into Pearl’s face, stroking her cheek softly and wiping the rest of her tears away.

   “… Do you promise?” She asked shyly, a little bit unsure.  _Always_  was such a long time delay after all.

   “I do.” Lapis smiled kindly and kissed Pearl’s forehead just to make her answer sufficiently convincing.

   Pearl hummed silently and her smile widened yet more. She snuggled up in Lapis’ arms and breathed out slowly. “… What time is it?”

   Lifting her right hand, Lapis checked the time on her watch. “Half past five.”

   “Oh no.” Pearl furrowed her eyebrows sadly and pulled away from Lapis because of what her body instantly started turning cold again. “I should be going. Rose is…“ She paused, feeling goosebumps over her skin as she said that name.  _‘No! I can’t succumb to it again_ …‘ “… My cat is home alone; probably hungry and circling around her bowl like a vulture.”

   “Hmm.” Lapis sighed, rubbing her nape. She looked at Pearl gingerly. “Would you… like to go then?”

   She was waiting for her responce for a good minute, but in the end she got the answer. Pearl gave her a sad expression and shook her head. “I wouldn’t… but I have to.”

   Seeing Pearl like this was tearing Lapis apart. She wondered if she did something wrong.  _‘Yes I did. I forced her to answer my question!_ ’ This was actually the first time she saw Pearl crying. ‘ _This is my fault_.’ Lapis sighed. She always thought that Pearl wasn’t capable of this, that she was always cheery, happy and full of positive energy, but after this emotional experience, Lapis realized that the whole saddness that Pearl wasn’t showing was likely burried deep under her skin, deep in her soul, and destroying her from the inside.

   She wanted to cheer Pearl up somehow and she was almost on one hundred percent sure that it couldn’t be hard because Pearl giggled at almost everything that Lapis said. Lapis had to go easy on her this time because she didn’t know what reactions she should expect from Pearl when she was in this kind of state. Lapis wanted her friend to feel at least a little bit more comfortable on their way home and make this afternoon more pleasant in some way for Pearl, but the more she was trying, the more she had a feeling like there was no way in managing.

 

   They were approaching the stable very slowly. It took them maybe a half an hour to get back into the equestrian area. During their ride back, Lapis was in all kinds of things trying to make Pearl at least smile or talk to her, but her responces were mostly just one-worded sentences. Lapis felt hopeless, althought she tried her best. She really tried. She wondered if she couldn’t normaly comunitace or if Pearl was in a different dimension and drowning in her own thoughts.

   They finally appeared in front of the barn. Pearl stopped her bike and leaned against her left foot, staring straight down across the handlebars. Lapis stopped her horse next to her. She removed her feet from stirrups and jumped down from her horse’s back onto the dirty ground.

   “I’m gonna walk Blue into her stall. I’ll be right back, okay?” The rider grabbed Blue’s reins and waited for Pearl’s responce, worried expression on her face.

   The tall girl nodded, not even looking at her friend. “… Yeah.”

   Lapis exhaled, still watching Pearl and holding the reins in her right hand. She was waiting. She was waiting for Pearl to look at her, at least once, at least briefly. Slowly she started to wonder if she did something wrong, but Lapis decided that maybe it was better not to think about it.

   Lapis turned around, leading Blue to the stable, but before she could make the second step, she was stopped. Blue’s leather reins were stretched and the animal was standing still on the spot, not planing to move. Lapis glanced over at her and pulled the leashes towards herself to make her mare move, but it didn’t help. However, she noticed that Blue was gazing at Pearl; her long pointy ears were turned to her, not to Lapis, and this was what made Pearl finally look at them and also what made Lapis stop pulling the reins.

   “Blue, come on.” Lapis asked, but instead of making step towards her owner, Blue stepped towards Pearl and stretched her long neck.

   Pearl was standing like a statue. Even without a terrified expression she was watching the horse and its actions. Pearl appeared in some kind of strange humor at that moment and it was making her seem fearless; and though she quite was.

   The mare gingerly approached Pearl. It looked as if Blue was trying not to make quick movements and not to startle Pearl somehow, and she actually did make her way to that tall human without making her run away, and although Lapis thought that it wasn’t a great idea, she let her horse continue.

   Pearl sniffed. She looked straight into Blue’s dark eyes. She saw a light in them; a beautiful light full of understanding and love. It was as if she was looking into Lapis’ eyes. They were no more different.

   Pearl lifted her hand. With a slight respect and in a slow pace she stretched her hand towards the animal's muzzle and especially cautiously she placed her palm onto it. With that she realized that Blue was trying to tell her something, even without words. Pearl knew it. She could feel it. She could feel her energy.

   They were standing there like that for a moment and while they were staring at each other, Pearl understood. She realized that horses were not just some spiritless things, but they were living beings with soul; they could feel, they could recognize that something wasn’t right. This brief unexpected contact made her realize many things and it even made her truly smile after a long time for which she was really glad.

   “Thank you…“ She whispered to the horse and after that she removed her hand from its head with a small smile on her cheeks.

   Lapis smiled, too. It warmed her heart when she saw Pearl smiling again. Then finally, after several brief minutes, she made Blue move and led her into the stable. Even after Lapis’ departure, Pearl still had a little smile on her face, yet as Lapis came back to her.

   Lapis stood in front of her, but didn’t say anything. Shyly, she rubbed her hands together, then scratched her nape and bit her lip.

   Pearl was quiet as well, standing on the ground with one foot and with the other one on a pedal. She was holding the handlebars in her hands and looking at Lapis. Her expression was unreadable; it was something between a sad and happy expression. Lapis couldn’t tell, though she hoped she could.

   After a moment of silent gazing at one another, Pearl exhaled and briefly she turned her head down with closed eyes. It made Lapis a little worried, but this feeling faded away right as Pearl dismounted her bike and ran to her, wrapping her arms around Lapis’ neck. Softly, she sniffed and hid her face in the crook of her friend’s neck and shoulder.

   Lapis could suddenly feel a beautiful wave of relief and instantly she hugged her friend back.

   “I’m sorry, Lapis… I didn’t mean this to happen.” Pearl sniffed, hot tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

   “Pearl…” She addressed her in surprise. “What are you apologizing for? This was my fault, I-I should apologize to  _you_.”

   “What?” Pearl lifted her head with a confused expression. “Why? It wasn’t your fault that I cracked up… you were there for me! I was the one who made a scene.”

   Lapis froze for a moment. This idea made her chuckle slightly, but only to herself. She shook her head. “Ah, Pearl, don’t be silly. What scene?” She hugged her once more, carefully. “It’s okay to cry sometimes… but you made me worried. I didn’t know what I could do to comfort you.”

   Pearl let out a sigh and hugged Lapis back. “I’m sorry…”

   “Don’t be.” Lapis whispered. She then slightly pulled back and gave Pearl’ forehead a small kiss. She even had to perch onto her tiptoes to reach it because Pearl was a bit taller than her.

   Pearl’s pale cheeks turned into a beautiful pink. She looked to a side, biting her lips from the inside shyly. “Thanks for being there for me.”

   “It’s a matter of course.” Lapis smiled frankly, making Pearl smile, too. “If you need anything, I’m here for you. Call me any time, even if it means calling at midnight, okay?”

   Pearl sniffed again, softly and for the last time. “Okay.” She lifted her hand gingerly, stroking Lapis’ cheek with her thumb.

   “I mean it.” She emphasized, looking straight into Pearl’s eyes.

   “I know.” Pearl giggled and stroked Lapis once more. “Thank you.”

   “Yeah…” With light blush she looked down, but then back up at the girl. “Don’t you want me to take you home by car?” She offered, but Pearl shook her head.

   “Thank you… but I think I can make it.”

   “Are you sure?” Lapis furrowed her eyebrows, a bit worried.

   The skinny girl hesitated for a while, but nodded in the end, convincingly enough for Lapis to believe her. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

   “Okay…” The equestrian grinned. “But at least send me a text once you get home safely.”

   “I will.” This time Pearl was the one who kissed the other’s forehead. With that she let go of her friend and headed to her bike in a slow pace, mounting it and standing into the pedals, ready to go. But before Pearl could do first step, Lapis quickly approached her, grabbing her arm.

   “Pearl, wait!” She pleaded and made Pearl stop. “Before you go… I-I want you to know something.”

   The girl grinned at that, wondering with what might Lapis come this time. “I should wear a helmet, I know.” She chuckled.

   Lapis stared at her a little confused, but then she realized that Pearl was actually right. Anyway, it wasn’t exactly what was on her chest. She knew that Pearl was still sad and Lapis hoped that this might cheer her up at least a little bit.

   She took Pearl’ hands gently, curling them into fists in her own hands, and fondly she pressed them against her own chest, making Pearl shift closer to her. “… I love you.”

   Pearl could do nothing but stare, frozen and surprised. Her heart started to bounce uncontrollably in her chest, feeling hot salty tears getting out again. She gasped, trying to avoid those tears from falling down. A wave of emotions suddenly washed her fragile being one more time. “… Lapis.”

   “ _I love you_ , Pearl.” She repeated, more clearly this time, making her friend’s tears finally come out and flow down over her cheeks.

   “I…” Pearl tried, but wasn’t able to finish because of the sudden flow of emotions, and instead of finishing the sentence, she tightly clasped Lapis in her arms and gave her the most delicious kiss she could make, right onto Lapis’ lips, pulling her longingly towards herself.

   Lapis appeared in heaven. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe nor even believe or realize what was just happening. Was she alive? Was she dead?

   She was reborn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl remembered her painful past  
> • Lapis confided to Pearl with her feelings towards her
> 
> ♦ 10th week (Saturday late afternoon)


	17. Need You Now

   After two hours of aimless wandering around the town, walking her bike beside her, Pearl finally got home. With a slight click she closed her apartment's door behind herself and let out a sigh sounding like something between a sad groan and happy chuckle. When she entered the flat, she appeared in a short, narrow foyer with pegs and a shoe cabinet with a rectangular mirror above it. It was dark all around her and Pearl decided to turn on the light so she could at least see where she was putting her shoes and sweater. Soon as the light was turned on, the girl heard a soft meow from somewhere out of the darkness embracing the entire flat. Then a small snow-white fluffy cat scuttled to her and meowed once more, nuzzling Pearl’s thin calves and purring loudly.

   Pearl was full of all sorts of emotions at that moment. She couldn’t stop thinking about Rose and she couldn’t stop thinking about Lapis. She was so confused. She could feel a great feeling of happiness and saddness at the same time. She felt all of those bad memories and emotions coming back to her after all these long years, but fortunately for her, new positive ones were somehow getting control over them. Lapis was making her feel so happy and she was the one who gave Pearl another reason to live. She gave her another chance to love again, but still Pearl couldn’t stop thinking about the giant woman with ample, curly pink hair. She was still somehow attached to her.

   Pearl had read many books and articles about afterlives and other spiritual stuff and she knew that there was no reason to be constantly crying about someone’s death because those who left us don’t want us to cry for them. They are in peace and they want us to be happy and live our lives. It’s sad, Pearl thought, but she was almost entirely sure about this and wished it was true. She wished that every single body has a soul and the soul is released from the body as the time is right. Pearl wished that there were spirits all around her, around other people and that those spirits are helping them to succed, helping them solve all kinds of problems, supporting them and showing them the right path that they’re supposed to follow, making their lives easier and happier. She so wished that Rose was happy wherever she was now, but for sure Pearl knew that Rose wasn’t in the material world. She was somewhere else. She was somewhere where she belongs, where her  _soul_  belongs, and she was happy. Maybe she’s watching over Pearl, maybe she’s watching over her little son, who knows? But as long as someone’s thinking about her, she’s always with them and “ _alive”._

   “Rosie…” Pearl sighed softly, putting her bike aside and taking her little pet into her loving arms. Tightly, enough not to crash her, she hugged her and burried her face into her beautiful white fur. “I’m sorry I’m late.” She apologized, facing the pet. But suddenly Pearl smiled brightly, lifting her cat into the air. “Guess what happened!”

   Rose gave her a poker face which was typical for her in every kind of situation. Frustrated, happy, tired, hungry, it didn’t matter; her face was always the same. This time, instead of a responce, she only waved the tip of her furry tail and kept staring at her excited owner.

   “You won’t believe it!” The girl stood on her tiptoes happily, slightly shaking with her uninterested cat. “She said she  _loves_  me!”

   Abruptly, an extreme feeling of happiness overwhelmed her whole body. She remembered Lapis’ sweet, convincing tone in her voice, her honest eyes and gentle squeeze of her hands as she was holding her before. Back then Pearl didn’t quite realize what exactly was happening. She was full of many different emotions and wasn’t paying attention to any of them entirely, but finally she absorbed what Lapis told her _._  Just now, after a decent time distance, everything became clear as a day sky. This was such a beautiful and pleasant feeling that Pearl had never exprerienced before. This feeling was just so uplifting; it was like all her dreams came true at once. Pearl wanted to tell the world how amazing she felt, how her life suddenly became happier and brighter than it was ever before. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry. She wanted  _Lapis_. She wanted Lapis to be there with her, she wanted to kiss her crazy, keep her close and repeatedly whisper to her: “ _I love you, too_.”

   Pearl put her hands back down slowly, still holding her beloved Rose and watching her expression, and though looking at her face wasn’t somehow exciting, the girl smiled widely.

   Pearl sniffed. She was sad. She was happy; eyes filled with tears, a lump in her throat. She clasped the animal in her arms and hugged it tightly, suddenly remembering the giant woman again.

   ‘ _I should move on…_ ’ Pearl sighed, eyes closed. She could feel a beautiful heat of the ragdoll’s long, smooth fur warming her chest. It was nice, but thinking about Rose, the woman she once fell in love with, was making her worried. Pearl had a strange feeling that if she decided to stay with Lapis, it would be a betrayal against Rose. But on the other hand, Pearl knew that Rose never returned her love to her and that it wouldn’t mean anything for both of them now. This was so absurd to just cogitate about this, Pearl thought, but she was deeply emotional person and relationships with others meant a lot to her. This was one of the most important things that she cared about. She didn’t want to hurt anyone; _this_  would be the last thing she‘d be thinking about. Although she knew that Rose was no longer with them, she still had a bad feeling about all of this. But why?

   ‘ _Why are relationships so difficult_?’ Pearl exhaled sorrowfully. ‘ _I do love Lapis, but…_ ’ Once more she let out a deep sigh, nuzzling her cat which had no idea what was going on at that moment and just let itself be hugged.

   After a moment of musing, Pearl lifted her head up, straight to the sky. She wanted to be with Lapis. She wanted to see her, look into her dark, empathic eyes and melt in her warm arms, hear her honey-sweet voice, touch her and absorb the most beautiful and enchanting energy of hers, smell her light perfume and kiss her with knowing that she loves Pearl back.

   Rose is gone. She will never come back. Pearl will never see her again. She will never feel the warmth of her body and she will never feel her energy; her material presence. She will never look into her eyes again, she won’t hear her sweet voice and she will never have a chance to touch her.

   This situation was perfectly clear and Pearl  _knew_  it, so why was it so difficult for her to decide?

   “God, what do I do? Give a sign.” She pleaded in whisper, staring up at the ceiling, but nothing happened. There was silence in the room and all around. The only thing she noticed after a while was just a weak rain outside, raindrops falling onto the outer window frame.

   With a sigh Pearl looked out of the window, standing still and quiet. The light in the foyer then turned off which Pearl didn’t take as a sign because there was an automatic switch-off applied.

   She was standing there in a dim light from the street, in silence. She inhaled.

   “Why don’t you answer me?” Pearl suddenly called into the darkness, but received no responce. An exhale was released and Pearl put her cat down. After leaving the small foyer, she entered the largest room in her apartment – the living room where she sleeps. Pearl felt comfortable with sleeping on the couch every night. On the opposite side of the foyer, across the living room, was a kitchen; short and narrow just like the foyer, but it was way lighter during day time because the kitchen had two large windows. Next to the kitchen, there was a pantry and right next to it, there was Pearl’s bathroom. These two last rooms were the only rooms were walled. The foyer, kitchen and the living room were actually one big room shaped into letter _T_. Pearl really loved her flat because it was easy to move in its space; it was pratical. And although Pearl’s apartment was quite small, it was comfortable enough for her and her pet to live in.

   Pearl didn’t bother turning the light on again, she just pulled her bike away from the wall and led it into the pantry where she kept practically everything; food, cleaning supplies, washing machine, hoover or her winter clothes. “… Come on, Rosie. We’re gonna feed you.”

   There came a soft meow as an agreement and after closing the pantry door, Pearl filled Rose’s bowl with fish-flavored cat food – Rose’s favorite.

   Partly dissapointed by receiving no sensible answer from the higher power and constant thinking about the pink-haired woman, Pearl was slowly roaming round the apartment. She changed her clothes, not entirely interested about what exactly she put on, and then she sat down onto the sofa and sank into the mattress, feet tossed over a small living room table. With a deep sign she listened to the silence and watched the ubiquitous darkness. She could hear her pet slowly eating its food and faintly purring, she could hear raindrops claping against the kitchen windows quietly.

   Pearl exhaled again. She leaned her head against the sofa and closed her eyes. “What’s wrong with me?” She whispered to herself, frowning.

   Suddenly, she felt alone, and though she loved being alone, it was different this time. She didn’t want to be alone. Pearl wanted to be with someone, she wanted to speak to someone. She wanted to snuggle to someone because her skin was becoming cold. The air in her apartment turned cool. Her room was dark and unpleasantly silent. Pearl always loved silence and calm atmosphere like this, but why couldn’t she enjoy it now? How was it different?

   All of a sudden, Pearl could hear a soft beep of her phone, soon followed by a white, muffled light that lightened up the room. Pearl immediately lifted her head up, hearing another beep. She shifted closer to the table where her phone was lying and stretched her hand, but she stopped for a while with a slight doubt. Staring silently at her phone, she decided to pick it up after the fourth beep. With a small sigh she pressed a green button.

   “Hello?” She leaned back against the couch slowly.

   “Pearl? Oh my… thank God!” Pearl could hear Lapis’ worried tone. “Where are you? I was worried sick something happened to you! Why haven’t you texted me?"

   “Lapis, I…“ Pearl palmed her forehead, biting her lips from the inside. “I’m sorry… I forgot.” She said regretfully. Pearl felt bad, really bad. How could she forget? She was thinking about Lapis all the time, but didn’t bother texting her, but why? Pearl wondered what she was supposed to do now.

   “Pearl, you really scared me.” Lapis reproached which made Pearl’s throat tighten a bit. “… Are you okay?” Lapis then asked, this time in a calm voice, still worried.

   “… Y-yeah… I’m fine.” She sniffed, wiping her nose. All of a sudden, she started feeling emotional gain, a lump grew up in her throat. She wanted Lapis to be there with her. She wanted to tell her everything, she wanted to look into her eyes, she wanted to feel her body as she would squeeze Pearl in her arms and whisper that everything will be okay.

   “Are you sure?” Another question came from the other side of the line. “… Don’t you rather want me to come? I have a bad feeling about leaving you like this.”

   Pearl smiled saddly. She sighed through her nose softly and sank deeper into the back of the sofa, hugging her knees. “You’re so sweet, Lapis…”

   Pearl wasn’t able to speak then. She made a long pause. The pause was long enough for both of them to start wonder if the other one was still on the line.

   “… So?” Lapis spoke in whisper, carefully, hoping that Pearl was still there. She was really worried about her; she at least wanted Pearl to speak to her, at least for a minute or just for a few seconds before this call ends.

   “Pearl?” A sad voice came through the phone. Lapis could hear Pearl breathe quietly; sometimes there was a silent sniffing, but that was all. “Pearl, please say something.” Lapis pleaded, almost crying herself. Her throat tightened.

   Lapis was really worried. She had no idea what was going on and without Pearl telling her, she couldn’t even help her, better said she didn’t know how because Pearl wasn’t speaking to her.

   Suddenly, Pearl forced an exhale and her sniffing became intense. Her hands started to tremble, her breath was shaky, hot, salty tears filled her eyes. She tried her best not to cry, but her sobs were uncontrolably becoming louder.

   “Pearl, what’s going on? Tell me.” Lapis urged, but gently. “… Please.”

   Her voice, so sweet and soft, only caused the narrow trails of tears widen, Pearl's sobbing then drowned out the silence in her room.

   At that moment Pearl realized how much she needed Lapis, how much she needed her to be there and feel her presence, but at the same time she didn't want to talk to her, she didn't want to be with her because she didn't want to bother Lapis with her problems and make a scene like the biggest crybaby in the world. What would Lapis think of her? Pearl would rather not know.

   Lapis tried to address her several times, but it was hopeless. The more she was trying to make Pearl speak, the more it made her cry, but Lapis didn’t want this to be happening, she just wanted to know what exactly was going on and mainly she wanted Pearl to stop crying because it was the only thing that was nearly making Lapis cry herself.

   But all of a sudden, everything on the other side of the line went silent; a dead silence, silence that was the last thing which Lapis wanted to hear. Lapis immediately removed the phone away from her ear, finding out that the call was canceled.

   Lapis appeared in a state of shock. She felt like her heart stopped beating. Her breath froze, her eyes were wide open and frightened, her vision became blurry.

   She put the phone down onto her bed extremely slowly, still with a terrified expression. She got up from the bed on which she was sitting and travelled across the dark room to the window. Placing her forehead against the cold glass posed with many trails of raindrops, she looked out of it and leaned against the window frame with her palms.

<•••>

   Lapis was spending a night at aunt Agate’s house today – Lapis’ home. Since Lapis and Deedee’s mother passed away Blue Diamond’s sister took charge of her beloved daughters. She was pleased she could take care of them and happy to provide them a roof overhead. Lapis practically wasn’t spending there too much time; she was spending way more time at the stable instead, in her favorite, comfy attic where she didn’t have to listen to her younger, annoying cousin who disliked Lapis for her own reasons. But once per time, Lapis came back home to see her family, the part of her family that  _left_ , the part of her family that cared about her and loved her, even when she was adopted.

   Lapis was standing there, silently and still like a statue, staring out of her bedroom window. ‘ _Did I do something wrong? What did I do wrong?_ ’ Lapis was asking herself, thinking about Pearl, thinking about all that happened today. All of a sudden, everything became messy and chaotic. Everything was somehow different and it was tearing Lapis apart when she didn’t know why things were this way. She wondered  _why_ Pearl was crying and  _what_  made her cry. Was it Lapis? Did  _she_  hurt her? Was Lapis responsible for all of this? How could she fix it? How could she help her friend when Pearl didn't want to talk to her?

   Lapis decided to do something; resolutely she pulled back from the glass, heading back to her bed to pick up her phone again, but as she was getting closer, her determination was quickly fading.

   She wanted to help Pearl, she wanted to know what’s wrong, but at the same time she wondered if all of it was happening because of her, because of what she did, because she wanted answers. She was asking herself if it even was a good idea telling Pearl about her feelings towards her. Was it too soon? Was it the worst time that she could choose? What if Pearl didn't feel the same? What if she was mad at her? What if Pearl didn’t want to speak to her or even see her? What if–

   Lapis hesitately took the phone into her palms, staring at the shining display and biting her lip as hard as she could taste her blood.

   She sighed deeply, closing her eyes for a while before dialing Pearl’s phone number. She was scared. She was afraid of making things even worse, but how else could she fix them? How else could she help? Pearl was too important to her to just let it be.

   Hesitately, Lapis pressed the call button, slowly putting her comunication device towards her ear. After a moment of silence, the phone started ringing, but for a really long time there was no responce.

   ‘ _Come on, Pearl. Pick it up, please._ ’ Lapis whispered, feeling a bit nervous, bitting her lip once more. She sat back down onto her bed and pressed her bent legs against her chest, then put her chin onto her knees and hugged herself tightly with her free arm. Now she was becoming extremely worried. ‘ _… What’s going on_?’

   Lapis tried many times to contact Pearl on her phone, but without any luck. The girl became sad and afraid. She couldn’t think about anything else than Pearl and if she was safe. Curled up in a ball and lying on her cold bed, Lapis was silently staring into the darkness. Only the blue lava lamp placed on a windowsill was making a muffled light in the room.

   The door suddenly opened without anyone bothering to knock, making Lapis wince. Someone entered the room and before Lapis could recognize who it was, there came a sharp, high voice. “Dinner is ready.”

   It was Lapis’ cousin, young fourteen years old girl with blue bob cut. She was way smaller than Lapis, she was spoiled, mean, smug and absolutely annoying to Lapis. These two never got along. The girl never considered Lapis as her cousin; she didn’t like her because she was adopted. For her Lapis just wasn’t a part of their family. And on a top of it, there was the fact that right as her younger cousin found out about Lapis’ attraction towards the same sex, she started to dislike her even more. Just speaking to Lapis was hugely against her grain and Lapis could say the same about the other.

   “I’m not hungy.” Lapis replied, gazing to nowhere, hands folded under her cheek.

   “I wasn’t asking…“ The girl said bitterly. Right after that she turned on her heels, went outside the room and slammed the door behind herself. It made Lapis wince once more and also a bit angry.

   She clenched her fists and furrowed her eyebrows. “At least learn to knock next time!” Lifting up her head from the sheets, she called after her cousin, but there was no responce – fortunately for Lapis.

   With a deep exhale, Lapis laid her head back down. Once more she was drowning in her thoughts, watching the dark screen of her phone and waiting for it to light up, but nothing happened. She didn’t know what to do.

   Lying on her bed, partly covered in darkness and partly in blue, muffled light, she was waiting more then ten minutes before hearing a soft knocking on the door. Light disgust overwhelmed Lapis as she imagined seeing her cousin again, but she realized that her cousin wouldn’t knock so lightly like this.

   Someone entered the room again, but this time Lapis wasn’t interested enough to glance over at who the person was, so she kept staring forward.

   “Lapis, dear, come eat dinner.” She heard a low, warm voice. The person sat down onto Lapis’ bed right next to her, gingerly placing a hand onto Lapis’ shoulder.

   “… I’m not hungry, aunt Agate.” Lapis responded with a sad tone in her voice, not looking at her.

   The older woman sighed through her nose and replaced her hand from her niece’s shoulder to her hair and stroked it gently. “Is something wrong, dear? You’ve been here since you came home.”

   Well, aunt Agate wasn’t the best person to talk with about this kind of thing. Lapis wasn’t in one of her best moods at that moment. She didn’t want to talk about it; not with her aunt, not now. “… I'm fine, just… not hungry.”

   Agate hummed at that and tilted her head aside, watching poor Lapis who probably wasn’t planing to continue in this conversation. “Lapis, you’re in the stable all the time, working hard without any rest and your loving aunt’s food. Come, you should eat at least something. You can’t be starving all night.” The woman smiled hopefully and stroked Lapis one more time, trying to cheer her up, but without success.

   The young girl looked at her aunt with a corner of her eye, but looked away soon after. “… I’ll come later.”

   Aunt’s smile entirely disappeared when she looked closer at Lapis’ sad expression. “Are you sure that there’s nothing you want to tell me?” She then asked, leaning closer to her niece, but Lapis only managed to nod weakly without speaking.

   “Okay…” Agate sighed softly and petted Lapis for the last time, then stood up and headed to the door. “Come soon, dear. I don't want you to eat cold dinner.” She asked in a calm voice with her eyes locked on Lapis. She was watching her for a while, realizing that Lapis probably won’t react or turn at her, so then she left the room and quietly closed the door, leaving Lapis alone in silence.

   There was a pool of emotions boiling inside Lapis. Her stomach twisted and a large lump formed in her throat. She wanted to cry. She had a feeling like everything was wrong, like there was no way to get out of this terrible feeling. She felt like everything that was happening was her fault and that she couldn't fix it. It was like everything was lost. She was afraid that this feeling won't go away sooner than she meets Pearl again – if ever.

   Lapis wanted to know what was wrong. She needed Pearl; and she needed her now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl was trying to fight her emotions and avoiding contact witk Lapis  
> • Lapis came home and spent there a night
> 
> ♦ 10th week (Saturday night)


	18. She Was Waiting

   Pearl turned off the engine and removed the key from the ignition, putting the key into her jacket pocket. She looked out from the window and with a soft sign she leaned back against the driver seat. Gazing at the giant wooden building, she could feel slight stress, a little doubt. She hasn’t seen Lapis for several days and she wasn’t even answering her phone when Lapis was calling. Pearl wondered what was Lapis thinking about her. Perhaps that Pearl just decided to ignore her and then she randomly appeares in the stable like nothing happened? Huh… Sure.

   This was a weird feeling, really weird. What will happen when Pearl walks in? Will Lapis be there and run right after Pearl to give her a hug, or is she going to be mad? What if Lapis forgot about Pearl? What if she will never speak to her again after what Pearl did? Better said what she didn't do.

   The skinny girl was staring at the barn, head full of all sorts of questions and emotions. She wasn’t able to move nor even blink. She was scared. What kind of things are going to happen as she leaves the car? A storm or warm welcoming? She didn’t know and she also wasn’t brave enough to answer this question. But one thing was certain; she missed Lapis. She missed her so much and she wanted to say so many things to her, but mainly she wanted to see her, cry out the deepest apologies to her and hug her tightly without letting Lapis catch her breath.

   ‘ _God, be with me_.‘ Pearl bit her lip, but after a while she grabbed her courage and got out of her pickup. For a moment, she kept staring at the enourmous building towering right in front of her and swallowed. A bit unsurely she stepped towards it, leaving the small parking lot, though she was afraid.

   She stopped right in front of the entrance, unsure and scared of what might happen. What if Pearl tries to adress Lapis first and the first thing Lapis does is screaming at her? Or will she push Pearl away without the slightest interest to see her again? Pearl had no idea how was Lapis taking all that was happening the past two days and how she will react.

   After a long time of deep thinking, Pearl rather decided to stay outside. Maybe it was safer to stay there and wait until Lapis shows up. She wanted Lapis to meet her and talk to her first. She wanted her to make the first step and she wanted to see Lapis' reaction at her. Pearl wanted to avoid a posibility of being rejected after talking to her friend after this long time.

   The girl sat down onto the bench standing next to the entrance to the barn, biting her lip nervously and rubbing her bare arms. She bent her legs and pressed them against her flat chest, hugging her knees with her chin put onto them.

   She was waiting. There was silence around her, but not the type of silence she liked. Somehow she just couldn't enjoy it. The breeze was caressing her cheeks and arms softly, but it wasn’t calming her down at all, and the warmth of the sun suddenly felt different than before.

   She was waiting…

 

   She was still waiting.

 

   All of a sudden, the silence was interrupted by horseshoes clinking coming from the inside of the barn. The noise was growing louder and louder as it was approaching Pearl, and the louder the clinking was, the more Pearl was trembling. It had to be Blue, and there surely must be also Lapis near her. This was it. It was time. It was time for explaining and time not to get totally embarrassed.

   But before Pearl could make herself rise from the bench, there came a horse out of the stable, immediately stunning her. This horse wasn’t the one she was expecting to see. This tacked up horse was way smaller than Lapis’ and it had light palomino coat. And though this horse was smaller than Blue, its body was more muscular and stronger. It also had lushy feathering on all its lower legs, covering the horse’s fetlocks, and beautiful, long white curly mane and tail.

   Pearl was in slight shock, but also in a big astonishment how beautiful this horse was. But after a moment she realized that no one was riding the horse. It was walking around just by itself and that made Pearl a bit nervous. But fortunately for Pearl, it didn’t take too long and there appeared a short blond girl who ran out from the stable with quite visible alarm in her eyes and quickly as a bolt of lightning she grabbed the horse’s reins and stopped it from its journey.

   “Hey, hey, hey! Stop. Where do you think you’re going?” The girl called and with every effort of her own she turned the horse towards the barn entrance and tried to lead it back inside, but she failed because she managed to notice Pearl who was tensingly sitting on the bench nearby her. “Oh? Hey, pointy nose.“ Peridot snorted, putting one of her hands onto her hip, grin on her lightly tanned face.

   After a moment of staring at the animal, Pearl finally looked down at the girl and blushed a little, arms crossed on her chest in defence. “Hi… Peridot.” But right after that she shyly hung her head, gazing at the dirty ground under her.

   Peridot snorted quietly with a shrug. “Hey, I didn’t mean it bad, you know. Never take the shit I’m saying seriously. Like ever.” She then laughed briefly.

   Pearl lifted her head immediately with an awkward grin. She felt like she was in a different time-space for a moment because what Peridot was saying wasn't really making her worried, but thinking about Lapis was, and every time Pearl slowed down, her mind was full of Lapis again. Actually, she didn't even pay attention to what Peridot said to her, so she just mindlessly responded. “Oh… okay.”

   Although Pearl’s stress from meeting Lapis was quite relieved by meeting Peridot instead, Pearl could hear a muffled voice of conscience calling her. She should meet Lapis. She needed to. Instantly. She decided to do something, although her doubt was slowly rising again.

   “Is… Lapis in there?” The tall girl asked shyly, avoinding blushing even more because of mentioning her name.

   Peridot hummed and thought for a moment, rubbing her chin with her short fingers. “I think not. Actually, I haven’t even seen Blue today. Maybe they went out for a ride… Did you check the attic?”

   “I did not.” Pearl shook her head. She wondered if Peridot knew anything about the situation between them two. Well, how couldn’t she? She was Lapis’ friend. Surely, Peridot wouldn’t just stare at Lapis without interest if something terrible and visible on her face was teasing her.

   “Then go ahead.” She waved towards the attic, but then her expression turned serious. “You better find her before she gets crazy 'cause of you.”

   Pearl’s turquise eyes widened in surprise, her stomach twisted a bit. “What-what do you mean?” She asked, but she immediately regretted it.

   “You know exactly what I mean.” Peridot shot back with a slight bitterness in her voice, staring straight at Pearl.

   Her expression was making Pearl nervous and scared. ‘ _Of course. Lapis told her_.’ She hid her head hidden between her shoulders and looked away, all embarrassed, face entirely red.

   There was silence for a while. Pearl wondered if Peridot was about to say something because she was extremely talkative – usually. At least when Pearl was spending time in the stable and Peridot was there, she couldn’t stop talking. But now, Pearl was actually quite glad that there was silence. She was worried that Peridot could be able to blame her or scream at her because Lapis surely must have told her everything.

   “… Hey.” Pearl then heared Peridot’s voice soften, but wasn’t brave enough to turn her head back at her. “I’m really worried about her, you know. I don’t want anybody to break her heart again.” And with a sigh through her small nose she dissappeared in the barn along with her horse.

   Then Pearl lifted her head lightly. She sighed, staring far, far away at the horizon. ‘ _Again_?’

<•••>

   She was waiting.

   The day was slowly turning into night, but there was still a bit of light. It wasn’t as warm as it was one hour ago. Now the weather was colder, making Pearl chills all over her body. Her skin was paler than usual, her heart was beating slowly, eyes heavy and watery.

   She hugged her legs tighter, pressing them towards herself to keep herself at least a little bit warm. But the slow the sky was darkening, the quick the rest of her hope was vanishing.

   She was waiting. Weak and tired.

 

   She was still waiting.

 

   Getting cold.

 

   Sad.

<•••>

   Pearl was sitting there for another long hour, remaining in the same position with her skin becoming colder and colder every minute.

   Suddenly, in the middle of the dead silence, there appeared unknown muffled noises that Pearl could hear; quiet, little noises. But the longer she could hear them, the louder they were, though Pearl wasn’t paying much attention to them. Her eyes were closed, lips lightly parted so she could breathe warm air into her lap, which was the last part of her body that wasn‘t completely frozen yet, to keep it warm at least for few more minutes before she freezes entirely.

   But then those noises stopped and everything went into silence again. And despite it, Pearl couldn’t even recognize if those noises that she heard before were real or if they were just a part of a dream. She didn’t know if she was sleeping. She didn’t know if she was awake, but she was sure that she heard something and that she was too weak and tired to find out what exactly those noises were.

   “… Pearl?” There came a quiet voice out of nowhere, but Pearl stayed frozen and motionless. Her eyes were still closed. Why even bother with opening them? There's dark all around her.

   The night came very quickly and Pearl’s hope fell to the very bottom of her levels. For a moment it felt like the rest of her hope was gone forever. She must have been dreaming. This couldn’t be true. Though, it’s fine to create illusions to let ourselves feel better and stay above the surface of hopelessness as long as it’s possible, she thought.

   “Pearl?” Someone addressed her once more with the same soft voice and it seemed like its source was being closer to Pearl than it was for the first time.

   Pearl’s eyes then opened, eyelids heavy and tired. Slowly, she lifted her head. Something felt very familiar to her.

   “… Pearl, dear?”

   The girl sitting on the bench with her cold and slightly shaking body, could feel a warm hand that was placed onto her cheek. It felt like an explosion, as if fire burned ice. There was an incredibly intense wave of warmness, love and care that overwhelmed the skinny girl’s frozen body and it finally made her eyes fully open.

   “… Lapis?” She whispered, looking into the darkness, watching the dark silhouette in front of her.

   All of a sudden, Pearl was wrapped in hot arms and hugged as tightly as she almost wasn't able to breathe. “Pearl, oh my god! You’re okay!”

   Pearl’s eyes brightened. That voice could Pearl recognize between millions of others. This one was different. This one was sweet and warming. It was Lapis’.

   Lapis forced an exhale, pressing Pearl’s weak body towards her own. “Jesus Christ… do you have any idea how worried I was?!” She then pulled back to face her, eyebrows furrowed. “I thought something happened to you! Why weren’t you answering your phone?” Lapis reproached, almost screaming at her, weak sobs were lightly cracking her voice, her eyes were filled with tears. “I was calling you like crazy! I was so worried! Freaking god…” Then Lapis let the tears fall down and hugged Pearl firmly once more, feeling so relieved that she was okay. “… I was so terrified. I thought I did something wrong! I thought I hurt you! I thought that you will never talk to me again.” She sobbed, facing Pearl again and taking her cool cheeks into her hot palms. “I’m so happy you’re okay… you made me so scared.” She whispered then, sighing softly. Slowly she pressed their foreheards together, finally feeling a bit more relaxed as she could finally touch Pearl's physical form. Quietly she sobbed. “… My little Pearl. I missed you so much…”

   She left Pearl totally wordless and stunned. Pearl couldn't breathe. She was staring straight into Lapis’ worried eyes. Just the look at her was making Pearl really sad – the look of her watery eyes, those great tears marking her freckled face. This was just so unfair. Why was Lapis crying?

   “… Lapis, I’m… I’m so sorry.” She apologized, her voice cracking up, tears in her eyes. Soon she started sobbing herself.

    _This_  is what Pearl had done. She made Lapis that worried that she even made her cry and just because of her own selfishness. But was this what Lapis deserved? Pearl knew that she was about to go straight into Hell because of this. ‘…  _What have I done_?'

   It felt like if the whole universe was destroyed. When Pearl saw tears in Lapis' eyes it was the end of the line. She had no idea how to fix it. She didn't want her to cry. This felt so hopeless.

   “Lapis, I… I really messed up. I know I  _should_  call you. I just…” She swallowed, then sniffed several times. “I didn’t want to bother you… with my problems… I didn’t want you to see me like this… to see me weak.”

   “What?” Lapis shook her head in confusion, salty tears rolling down her skin. “What problems?” She blurted, but carefully.

   Lapis felt bad. Just a little while ago she was sure that everything was her fault, that _she_ did all of this, she was convinced that she did it and she was regreting it, that she should’ve just shut up and stop herself from telling Pearl about her feelings that afternoon, that she surely caused Pearl troubles and that she was suffering  _only_  because of her. That's what Lapis was thinking, but unfortunately this idea was still on her mind.

   “It’s because of me…” Lapis spoke quietly after a moment of deep thinking, but it rather sounded like if she was talking to herself. “It’s me, isn’t it?” She pulled back, a tear rolled down her cheek, gazing at Pearl. “I’m the one who did this to you. I'm the one who caused you problems, am I right?"

   There came a massive wave of coldness that engulfed Pearl‘s body again as Lapis pulled away. Suddenly, she felt alone when Lapis wasn’t close to her – and this was paradoxically the moment when she needed her the most.

   Pearl took all the rest of her strength and leaned forward, hands stretched, longing for Lapis' touch. She gently took Lapis by her hands and made her come back to her. “What–no! What are you saying?” She then made Lapis come yet closer.

   Pearl’s stomach twisted. This was a bad feeling. Was this her conscience? She made Lapis think that all that was happening was her fault! That Lapis did all of this, that Lapis hurt her and made her suffer. Pearl didn’t want this! She really should’ve at least told Lapis what was going on. Making someone worried about her was the last thing she would want to do, not even mentioning making someone cry. “Lapis, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was all me!” Pearl pointed towards herself, frowning sorrowfully. “I was being stupid!  _I_  made you feel like it was your fault.” Pulling Lapis a bit closer, she continued. “You were the one who was there for me! You were doing all possible things  _just_  to make me feel better. You were the one whom I needed the most… but  _I_  was the one who left  _you_  behind.” The girl then stopped and looked down, tears in her swollen eyes. “… I’m the one to blame.”

   Lapis could just stare, although Pearl was about to cry. She had to do something. It was so uncomfortable doing nothing when Pearl was in an emotional trap, literaly cracking up right in front of her. But she also had to get control of herself first to be able to calm down her friend.

   The girl with blue hair gingerly kneeled down by the bench, between Pearl’s thighs, and hugged her around her slim waist which immediatelly made Pearl hug Lapis back around her neck and force her towards her own chest. Softly they were crying together, helping each other to calm down and relax. Everything was alright now. They were here. They were together and both of them were so glad that the other one was okay and safe.

   Lapis’ squeeze was tender and soft. She was slowly and comfortably stroking Pearl’s back with her thumbs, her head resting on Pearl’s chest. She could feel Pearl’s heart beat intensify, it was beating fast against her cheek – those were such sweet and comforting vibrations. At last she could hear her beautiful heart beat again.

   “Pearl…” She whispered, nuzzling her chest. She sniffed one last time. Suddenly, she realized how cold Pearl was. This evening was colder than usual and Pearl was sitting there just in a t-shirt, with bare arms. “… Come to my place. You’re gonna get cold here.” Lapis offered and helped Pearl get up onto her feet. Pearl didn’t resist and let Lapis lead her inside.

   They were followed by a large shadow and clapping of hooves. It was Blue who was following them. Lapis must’ve arrived with her before she met Pearl who was sitting outside on the wooden bench.

   This time, Lapis supported Pearl and led her up into the attic room first, then she settled Blue in her stall and untacked her, leaving her and other horses alone with a quiet thunk of Blue‘s iron stall gate, heading to the ladder and up to her room.

   Quietly, she climbed up, entering the small comfy attic. She was briefly searching for Pearl in the darkness until she finally found her. She was sitting there in hay, curled up in a ball and watching Lapis’ every movement.

   Lapis blinked with a soft sigh and slightly sad expression. “May I offer you anything? A tea for example?” She stepped forward, watching Pearl worriedly.

   The girl breathed out, but smiled a bit, though she was still emotional and confused, but she was also truly happy that she was with Lapis once again. Her presence was making her feel relaxed – as always. “Just… you and your blanket, please.” She then looked Lapis straight into her eyes.

   Lapis kneeled down cautiously, a warm smile playing on her face. She stretched her hand and from behind Pearl’s back she pulled out her smooth blanket. With slow and prudent movements she spread it and wrapped around Pearl like a scarf.

   Pearl had no idea what would she do without Lapis now. She felt like a baby; a baby that needs attention, care and love. But all of a sudden a sorrowful sigh escaped Pearl’s lips, her gaze went away from Lapis. She grabbed both ends of the blanket and tightened them. Thoughts have filled her mind again.

   Lapis noticed that something wasn’t right because Pearl was silent for a long time. Lapis shifted closer, shoulder brushed shoulder. She was so close, she could breathe Pearl into her face, and fortunately for Lapis the girl didn’t pull back, though she wasn’t looking back at her.

   “Pearl?” Lapis addressed her softly, especially careful, but the other one didn’t react and it was making Lapis worried once more.

   She was waiting.

   She was waiting for a responce.

   “What’s wrong?” She asked in whisper, but Pearl remained silent. She so wanted to tell Lapis, she wanted to cry, she wanted to squeeze Lapis tightly as physically possible and don’t let her go. She was afraid, but she knew that the longer she keeps silent, the worse it will probably get.

   “Sweetie.” Lapis tried again, but received only a sad sniff from her and that made her lift her own hand, especially slow. Gently she placed her fingers onto Pearl's pale chin and without any force she turned her head towards herself, although her watery turquise eyes were fixed somewhere else.

   “Pearlie.” She pleaded for her attention, not urgently, but with care, and finally she made Pearl look up at her. “Tell me… please. What's wrong?”

   Pearl gazed at her, slowly getting warm, but just only a tiny bit because of the blanket.

   Pearl pressed their noses and foreheads together, feeling Lapis’ hot skin against hers, and cupped the hand that was holding her chin, but she didn’t say a word, just enjoyed Lapis’ presence.

   Lapis moved her lips closer to her. One beautiful small kiss was placed onto Pearl’s pale lips and her sad little heart then started beating.

   “So?” The blue-haired girl asked. She brushed the other girl’s pointy tip of her nose with her own and then pressed their foreheads back together.

   Pearl couldn’t help it. Lapis was just too sweet to resist more of her pleading.

   An exhale was released from the skinny girl‘s lips. Parting their foreheads, she looked slightly aside and covered her mouth with Lapis’ hand which she was holding, placing a kiss into her palm. But before she could speak, she needed a bit more time. Before a word was told, a tear rolled down her cheek, making a wet trail across Lapis’ hand.

   “Honey, why are you crying?” Lapis asked right after the teardrop fell down from her skin, but suddenly, there appeared a bright, beautiful smile on Pearl’s cheeks.

   “I’m just so… happy…” She sniffed, the tone in her voice honest. “Lapis, I… I was so afraid. I was afraid of telling you…” She inhaled fresh air and sank into the other’s dark eyes. “… Of telling you what I really feel… I was afraid of falling in love again…“

   In fact, Pearl was scared of letting herself love someone again because she was afraid it would end like it ended before; as an unrequited love. But then she realized that thinking about Rose was always making her feel sad, and feeling like this and crying about het wasn't even solving anything, yet finally she decided to move on. She got a new chance to love. She got a new chance to live and she knew that the person whom she was in love with simply loved her back. This was a perfect moment to start a brand new life.

   A big wave of relief overwhelmed Lapis as she realized that she actually didn’t do anything wrong – at least she thought that she didn't, after this experience. She blinked slowly, scanning Pearl's face and feeling that something has changed – for good. Suddenly, she felt so happy, she was filled with indescribable feeling of happiness. “Pearl…” She lifted her other hand, also placing it onto Pearl’s cheek, holding her close, breathing into her face. But before she could speak, Pearl continued.

   “The day when you told me, I felt so… so… I-I can’t even describe it. It was something… something  _big_  and  _special._  You always made me feel like I was… someone. You made me feel like there’s something… like there’s someone in this world who’s worth living for. You’re the one holding me on my feet, the one who makes me happy, who makes me laugh and smile, the one because of whom I wake up in the morning.“ She sighed softly, taking another breath. “You gave me hope, another chance to live… you can’t even imagine how honored I am to have you by my side.”

   This was enough; it was enough for Lapis to let tears fall down from her eyes. Everything that she was worried about was just a misunderstanding, she realized. Lapis was so worried about something that wasn’t even happening, and this little misunderstanding only made Lapis love Pearl more – now when she finally knew that what she had done was actually the best choice she could make; saying those three simple and powerful words.

   “… I love you, Lapis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • after two days, Pearl came back to the stable to see Lapis  
> • Pearl finally found courage to tell Lapis about her feelings
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Tuesday afternoon + night)


	19. This Moment We Share

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive/mature content

   Lapis sighed with a warm smile, lightly brushing Pearl’s nose with her own. “Pearl… I love you, too… you have no idea how much.”

   Pearl half-smiled. She looked aside slightly. But even when she told Lapis what she wanted, there was still something that was making her worried. And Lapis noticed that.

   “Honey.” Lapis spoke, whispering, foreheads pressed together. Lapis was used to see Pearl happy; always, but now it was easy for her to recognize that something was still bothering her and that was making Lapis worried herself. Pearl was her everything. Pearl was her light, she was her sun, warm and shining, smiling and laughing all the time, but now it was different and just the look at her was making Lapis sad.

   “Hm?” Pearl lifted her eyes and looked into Lapis’.

   To Lapis it seemed like Pearl was trying to hide something; something that was still hurting her from the inside and that she was afraid to say it, even when she  _told_ Lapis the reason because of which was happening what was happening before. Lapis could see it in her eyes. She could feel it.

   “I know that something is still making you worried, Pearl.” She said compassionately, scanning Pearl’s expression. But the girl didn’t say anything at that, she just turned her head aside so Lapis’ palm was covering her mouth again.

   “I can feel there’s something making you sad… just tell me.” After that she was silent and still waiting for Pearl’s responce, but unfortunately she was silent, too. But Lapis wanted answers.

   Pearl knew exactly about what was Lapis talking, but how could Lapis recognize it? How could Lapis know that she was thinking about the same thing as her?

   Lapis sighed softly. “I know you weren’t crying about nothing that Saturday, Pearl.” She stroked her pale cheek tenderly. “I want to help you, but you have to tell me what’s wrong.”

   Pearl exhaled. She knew that she can‘t resist any longer. That would mean making Lapis even more worried and that was the thing she didn’t want to cause. Not again.

   So she gave in. “I just… remembered something… someone.” She swallowed. “And remembering things from the past has a great influence on me.” Although her voice sounded rather sad, a small smile curled up on her face. “But you were there for me… and that was the only thing that was important to me at that moment.”

   Lapis wrinkled her eyebrows sadly, not reacting exactly at what Pearl just said. “… Did that  _someone_  hurt you?”

   The girl winced slightly at her question, not expecting it. “Well…“ She thought. Rose actually didn’t hurt her, but Pearl did hurt herself because she let herself feel bad, because she longed for something about which she knew was an unreachable achievement for her. “… No.”

   “Then what made you cry?“ Lapis asked, but carefully. “Was that me?”

   “No, Lapis.” She shook her head quickly as to put an extra emphasis into it. “… You made me smile.”

   This made Lapis smile herself. She placed a small affectionate kiss onto Pearl‘s lips before Pearl could continue.

   “It was all my fault that I let myself feel that way.” She admitted. “But now I know that I was acting silly. I realized that I longed for something that I couldn’t get…“ She sighed quietly, the tips of their noses touching. “And I realized so many things since we first kissed, too…”

   She went silent after that and both of them knew that no words were needed then. This special silence felt like these two were sharing thousands of words between each other, but the words didn’t even have to be told. It was like they were talking to each other through the tiny voices in their minds, reading each other’s thoughts and speaking to one another through unspoken words, just breathing slowly with eyes closed and minds finally relaxed, knowing that everything was okay. At last.

 

   After a moment of harmonic silence, Lapis lightly opened her eyes, finding Pearl with her eyes still closed and with forehead resting against Lapis‘.

   “Pearl?” Lapis whispered.

   The girl hummed softly, but kept her eyes closed.

   “I won’t let  _anything_  or  _anyone_  hurt you… never.” She said resolutely, but still she was whispering. And at that moment Pearl opened her eyes, a wide smile shining upon her cheeks.

   “You’re so sweet.” Pearl giggled briefly – the cutest way she always does.

   “So…” Lapis brushed the tip of Pearl’s nose once more, tenderly. “Are we okay?”

   With an enormous feeling of happiness and relief Pearl nodded, smiling brightly and blinking at her beloved friend. “Yeah.”

   The other girl smirked and planted another kiss onto Pearl’s smooth lips, and still she was holding her hands on her cheeks, keeping them warm, making Pearl feel safe and loved. “But promise me that whenever something happens, you're gonna tell me… okay?” She asked, her voice soft.

   Pearl nodded as a responce and after a brief moment she pecked Lapis’ lips in return, accompanied with another and yet one more buss.

   These feather-light touched of her lips made Lapis shiver, chills ran over her body as quick as a bolt of lighting then. But she couldn’t let Pearl win that easily. She wanted to fight back and since they were finally together, alone, in private, Lapis had a great opportunity to tease Pearl as much as she wanted, but still cautiously.

   She waited for a perfect moment to steal another kiss from Pearl and then, when Pearl wasn’t paying much attention once again, there came another peck from Lapis, this time onto her cheek that was already warmed up from the equestrian's palm. And making the skinny girl giggle, Lapis continued, kissing every tiny spot on her face that was possible touch. Hundreds, maybe thousands of kisses were drowning Pearl in a waterfall of pure love. She couldn’t stop chuckling and she couldn’t stop her cheeks from getting redder and redder every time another kiss was placed somewhere onto her face.

   “Lap-is…“ She was still giggling, eyes shut, goosebumps all over her skin, not even trying to push Lapis away because that was in fact impossible for her just now. “It… t-tickles.”

   “Oh?” Lapis backed up a little, surprise visible in her face along with thrill. “So you’re ticklish.”

   Pearl grinned shyly, but wasn’t brave enough to look into Lapis’ greedy eyes as she was about to respond. “Ah, I wouldn’t say tha–“

   A tiny squeak escaped her lips as she found Lapis kissing her slender neck. She jolted slightly because she was extremely sensitive there, and once again she felt goosebumps everywhere.

   “Lap–“ She groaned silently, now clenching Lapis‘ wrists firmly with both hands. But these adorable moans were a sign for Lapis to go on. And she did.

   While Pearl was softly gasping at those fond and extremely soft touches, Lapis’ affectionate hands found their place on Pearl’s hips, briefly stroking them with her hot palms, making Pearl gasp again at their immensely gentle press.

   Pearl’s body tensed. Her heart started beating fast and chills flooded her body. There was nothing she wished more than to be with Lapis right now. She wanted to feel her body, she wanted to touch her smooth skin and toy with her cyan hair, share her breath with her and look into the depths of her dark blue eyes.

   Since Lapis‘ hands were resting on the skinny girl‘s sides, occasionally stroking them with the most delicate touches, Pearl slowly moved her hands towards Lapis‘ shoulders, slipping across the whole length of her beautifully tanned and strong arms, and then she stopped on the top of them, sinking into Lapis’ big, deep eyes.

   Lapis was enjoying this moment, although her breath was stuck somewhere between her throat and lungs, she could feel blood in her veins under her belly pulsing intensively.

   Her freckled hands then started to slip upper along Pearl’s sides extremely slow, flattening the folds of fabric underneath Lapis’ spread fingers. These sweet and gentle movements made Pearl raise from her possition so she was kneeling now, although she didn’t even know that she was doing it. Lapis’ palms then met her shoulder blades, gingerly continuing upper and then resting on the back of her fragile shoulders, pulling Pearl closer to her chest. It made Pearl gasp silently as their chests were pressed together, though Pearl was a bit higher than Lapis.

   After a moment of staring at each other with eyes half-closed and sharing one another’s breath, Lapis slowly moved one of her hands towards Pearl’s thigh and behind the crook of her knee. She then allowed herself to toss one of Pearl‘s legs over her own thighs, making the connection between their bodies more intense, pressing not only their chests towards themselves, but also their abdomens.

   Pearl, feeling a bit besotted because of Lapis being slightly playful, suddenly felt a strange feeling inside her stomach, though it was very pleasant feeling. Beating of her heart immediately speeded up and she could feel her veins pulse on places where she couldn’t normally feel it, well, usually; her underbelly and the sensitive spot between her slim thigs which was pressing against Lapis’ leg. The spot was pulsing so fast and Pearl wondered if Lapis could feel it. Pearl started to feel a bit nervous and embarrassed because of that idea. Also this part of her body was a spot where no one has ever touched her but herself – sometimes. And it wasn’t a surprise that Pearl winced slightly right as Lapis made her leg hit that spot.

   An unexpected moan escaped Pearl’s lips right after that. She wasn’t prepared for this, not even expecting it to happen, but this cute sound of hers curled up a grin on Lapis’ cheeks.

   After Lapis’ goal was finished, she replaced her hand back onto Pearl’s shoulder, making Pearl swallow with a bit of nervousness visible in her expression.

   The tall girl placed her hands onto Lapis’ cheeks, pulling her face closer to her own. For a long moment, she studied her eyes, seeing her own reflection in them, but her reflection actually seemed more beautiful than she really was, Pearl thought. Everything in Lapis’ eyes just looked better and lighter than the reality.

   Lapis lightly parted her heart-shaped lips and sighed softly, scanning the other’s beautiful ones. Her boiling breath brushed Pearl’s cheeks, causing her shivers and making the feeling in her stomach grow stronger. She then looked up, staring still at her, she decided to slide her hands back down from Pearl’s boney shoulders; only way more slow this time.

   Passionately, she nuzzled Pearl’s thin lips with her own, making the girl open her mouth, too, exchanging their quiet gasps. Once Lapis made Pearl open her mouth, longingly, but slowly at the same time, she put their lips together. She kissed those lips with passion, with love and care, sinking deeper into them with every next suck accompanied with a soft squelch.

   Pearl was softly gasping into the other’s mouth, swallowing her breath and beautiful kisses along with a slight help of her own hands which were pulling Lapis’ face closer to her. Pearl also noticed that Lapis’ hands started to move again. Her short polishless fingernails were finely burried in Pearl’s back, tenderly scratching it all the way down to her waist and then pulling her gently towards her strong body.

   Pearl couldn’t find her cheeks redden more than they were now. Her face was burning, she could feel sweatdrops forming on her forehead. She was never dreaming about something like this. She had never felt like this. This was like if a bolt of lighting ran through her body from top to bottom. It was a sudden energy, a pulse that was making her body tremble in pleasure, however, feeling a little unsure, because this was the first time she experienced something like this, she longed for more these kinds of touches.

   And while Pearl was slowly drowning in an ocean of ecstasy, Lapis cautiously clasped her thin bottom lip between her teeth and stretched it a bit. Her hands then wandered under Pearl’s shirt. First, there appeared the tips of her fingers, then her digits carefully continued further and finally her hot palms were squeezing Pearl’s bare waist, petting her smooth, fragile skin, shifting her hands upper and making Pearl raise from Lapis‘ thighs.

   She pulled Lapis’ face towards her own chest longingly. A soft gasp escaped her mouth as the girl burried her face in there, and it also made Pearl’s heart skip a beat, chills all over her skin. She hung up her head, her lips meeting Lapis’ hair, discontinuously breathing into it, eyes shut. A contact of the other’s sneaky hands made her lose her mind for a while, head lightly spinning.

   Pearl‘s body was shivering and Lapis could feel it, too, and placing tiny sweet kisses onto Pearl’s chest made her shivers grow bigger, just as Lapis‘ palms surfing across her bare back and belly, stroking and caressing them ever so fondly.

   Gasping for air silently, the skinny girl ran her fingers through the other girl’s blue hair, rubbing between it almost hungrily. An enormous wave of ecstasy flooded her. She felt like her heart could jump out of her chest because it was beating so aggressively and fast that it could explode any second, especially as Lapis was touching her the way she was.

   Pearl has never felt this kind of feeling and she could barely even imagine it – until now. This feeling was just so indescribable and astonishing. She couldn’t even think straight, she didn’t know what was she doing or what was Lapis doing. She only wished that this wasn’t a dream. Feeling light tickling inside her stomach and a state of inability to stop Lapis from what she was doing was making her feel so pleased and relaxed, even when her body was tensed and her mind fogged. Pearl knew that she was in good hands – literally.

   But all of a sudden she couln’t get rid of feeling that something was tugging her backwards, and though the  _something_ weren’t Lapis‘ breasts softly thrusting into her; and actully this was the moment when Pearl realized that Lapis‘ breasts were bigger than she first thought. And she liked it.

   But in the middle of her train of thoughts she found herself lying in the nest of hay on her back with Lapis kneeling above her, and somehow she even noticed how lightly and carefully Lapis laid her down with her arms around Pearl’s waist, squeezing her so gently and nuzzling the crook of her slender neck like a little kitten.

   Lapis’ weight against Pearl was enough for Pearl to let out a groan. The strange feeling in her stomach was still growing. Lapis’ smooth lips were tickling Pearl’s neck and collarbones. Pearl’s grip around the girl’s head tightened and the very bottom parts of her lower abdomen tensed right as Lapis’ leg unexpectedly pushed into them.

   Pearl’s body shook and she groaned at that, a little bit louder than she expected. “I… uh…” She looked up at Lapis, eyes flutter open. “S-sorry, I-I wasn’t expecting that coming.”

    Lapis deeply blushed and straightened. She backed up, leaning against her palms, staring still at the girl under her. “No! That was my fault! I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” She apologized, biting her lip.

   Her pale cheeks turned red, too, realizing that this kind of contact wasn’t actually that bad. For some reason it felt… good. Kind of. But she wasn’t sure if she was ready to experience it again, yet. Now Pearl just wanted Lapis’ warm arms around her and tug her close as much as physically possible. Yes. This feeling was so nice.

   “Pearl?” Lapis addressed the girl whose gaze was still.

   Pearl shook her head a bit, blinking and noticing Lapis who was watching her with eyes wide open. “Yeah?” She reacted, shyly a little. Her hands gingerly lowered from Lapis’ hair down onto her own chest like if she wanted to defend herself from something.

   “I’m sorry if–“ Lapis started again, but wasn’t able to finish what she wanted to say. She was interrupted by the other’s sweet, low voice.

   “–It’s fine. Don’t worry.” She said, eyes fixed elsewhere, but her lips were smiling at her friend.

   “Is it?” Lapis raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

   Blushing Pearl so wanted to look at her, but she knew that when she isn’t doing anything, then Lapis surely is, and she wanted Lapis to do something. Something like she was doing before. And without any sign of glancing at her, Pearl recognized that Lapis grinned and bit her lip then. Soon, Pearl found the girl moving slowly towards her and leaning against her elbows, hands hemming sides of the slim girl‘s chest.

   Finally, Pearl’ eyes looked into the other‘s, then she turned her head and Lapis appeared so close once more. Pearl felt so safe, like if she had some safety cloak over herself, like if an angel tossed their wings all around her. It was so warm and peaceful in her arms. She wished she could stay like this in there forever.

   Lapis brushed Pearl’s nose gently with her own, from side to side, with eyes half-closed.

   Pearl usually wasn’t that ticklish, but for some reason she was now. She started to giggle softly, lifting her hands in a slow pace, placing her fingers around Lapis’ neck with thumbs petting both sides of her jaw.

   Two warm palms then carefully slipped under Pearl's shoulders, followed by thousands of cute tiny kisses onto her cheeks and lips, her forehead and nose, accompanied with quiet smacking of Lapis’ lips. It was such a sweet sound for Pearl and she never wanted it to fade away. And to stop it from fading, she decided to face Lapis again. Touching the tip of her nose and brushing her lips lightly with her own, she tenderly pulled Lapis towards herself with her hands.

   There was nothing in the world sweeter than Lapis‘ lips; warm, smooth and full, almost making Pearl pass out every time while touching them. Feeling something as soft at touch just felt like a kiss from an angel.

   Pearl wished this evening never ends, although she was a bit sleepy. But with Lapis, being there with her, along with her cute kittenish behavior, she could stay up all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • everything important was explained  
> • girls were cuddling in the attic
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Tuesday night)


	20. Challenge Your Fear

   It was still dark all around, but it was time for Lapis to wake up. It was 5 AM and horses and stalls were waiting.

   She rubbed her eyes wearily and realized that there was no light from the sun yet in the room. She rolled from her side onto her back and rubbed her eyes with her palms once more, then she streached her face with them with a growl, resisting getting up just yet.

   But something felt different. The room was warmer than usual and wasn’t even that quiet. Lapis turned her head to a side and realized that she wasn’t alone.

   She found Pearl sleeping so peacefully and undisturbedly, breathing softly with hands folded under her cheek, lying on her side facing Lapis.

   Lapis couldn’t bite back a smile. Pearl seemed so happy when she was asleep. Lapis noticed that Pearl’s lips were moving a little as if she was talking to someone, however, she was silent. Maybe she was dreaming about someone, Lapis wondered, watching her with interest and a warm grin on her cheeks.

   Lapis knew it was a responsibility to clean up the stable and take care of all horses, but she so damn wanted to stay in her “ _bed_ ” with Pearl and watch that sweet little angel having no idea about anything that was happening around her.

   Carefully, Lapis shifted closer to the other girl and stayed like that for a while, watching her sleep. Pearl was even cuter from close up, whispering something under her breath and moving her eyes, even though they were closed.

   Lightly, she lifted her hand towards Pearl’s face and with a back of her fingers she petted her smooth cheek, trying her best not to wake her up. Pearl was like a baby; cute, innocent and happy, calm and relaxed, especially when she was asleep.

   Lapis could never entirely realize that someone like Pearl was actually giving her this much fortune just by simply being with her, spending her free time with Lapis, smiling at her, holding Lapis‘ hand or just calling her name with her honey-sweet voice. Lapis never felt so happy until she met this amazing person who changed her whole life. Sometimes, she wondered if all that was happening was real, although she knew that it surely was, but also it was almost unbelievable for her to realize that this wasn’t a dream.

   Lapis sighed softly, eyes dreamy and cheeks lightly pink. ‘ _Time to get up, Lappy_.’ She locked her mouth in a tight line, still hesitating to get onto her feet. But there was a task to do and this was her main responsibility of the day.

   She decided to let her little, sweet birdie sleep until her job downstairs is done, then Lapis might come back to wake her up if she’s not awake. But before Lapis could persuase herself to get up, the sunlight lightly flooded the room. That’s not a good sign. She should’ve been at the stable by now and cleaning the stalls.

   Lapis groaned to herself and managed to get downstairs. She got herself a quick, cold shower in a wash stall, got herself clean stable clothes and started her everyday work with cleaning Blue’s stall first. She led the horses, except for Blue and Malachite, to the grazing meadow and returned back to the building, heading to storage for a pitchfork and wheelbarrow.

   Malachite wasn’t in one of her best moods today. She was snorting, neighing and kicking the wooden planks of her stall, but somehow it wasn’t making Lapis scared whatsoever, though she was sort of worried that it might wake up Pearl, and that was something that Lapis couldn‘t allow to happen.

   Lapis, almost determinedly, scooted to Malachite’s stall and punched the stall gate, hard enough not to make too much noise. “Shut it, you nag! You’re gonna wake her up.” She hissed and glared into the dark horse’s eyes, which was an act about which she rather should’ve thought twice before acting. The look at her caused Lapis chills all over her body – Malachite’s straight look was really sharp and evil-like. Lapis rather turned on her heels and didn’t bother looking back, continuing in clearing the stable. And fortunately, the horse remained silent then.

   Minutes went by and Lapis really enjoyed the moment of being done with five stalls. As she continued with the sixth one, she was happily crooning something to herself, her feet were dancing and her lips shining in thrill. She hasn’t felt like this for a really long time, she almost couldn’t remember the last time when she felt like this. She was extremely cheerful and this time she knew because of what. Well, because of whom.

   Picking up the dung with pitchfork, she was dancing, swinging her hips from side to side with a wide smile on her cheeks, singing something in a low voice so that nobody could hear.

   “Ahem?”

   Lapis immediately stopped with everything she was doing, turning quickly towards the voice she just heard. But this dry “a _hem”_ wasn’t Pearl’s. It was Peridot’s.

   “You seem… happy.” The short girl said with an unreadable tone in her voice. She had her arms crossed on her chest, leaning against a stall with her shoulder, eyebrows lightly furrowed.

   “Oh, do I?” Lapis straightened a bit. She sighed with a half smile on her cheeks, putting her chin onto the curved wooden end of the pitchfork.

   Peridot didn’t answer, but asked another question instead, lifting her round glasses upper onto her small nose. “Guess you found Pearl?” With that the tone of her voice sounded rather playful, smirk on her lips.

   Lapis flushed a little with a brief look aside. “Yeah.” She grinned nervously.

   The blonde was waiting for more, for details, but Lapis seemed a bit distracted to her, somehow. Lapis’ eyes were milky, dreamy, and her cheeks were dusted with pink. Something felt suspicious about all of this. “Hey, what’s going on with you? I’d never seen you  _this_  happy.” She gestured, leaning away from the wall. Then she froze for a moment, thinking, making Lapis wonder bout what might she be thinking, but then Peridot happily continued with a sneer like if she realized something. “Oooh, wait. Wait a moment… did Pearl sleep at your place last night?”

   Lapis’ face got redder. She bit her lip. Just the wording of this sentence caused her body shivers. “Umm, yeah… she did.” She responded shyly.

   Peridot chuckled, cupping her mouth. “Oh maaan, I know what’s going on here.”

   Lapis got nervous for a while, thinking about what could pop up in her friend’s mind. Lapis swallowed before she opened her mouth. “And what’s… going on?” She let out doubtfully, but then she realized that she rather shouldn’t ask. Now it was too late to take it back.

   “You two were fucking!” The girl snorted, pointing her forefingers at Lapis, wide grin on her face.

   “What-no! No, we were not!” Lapis opposed; quite louder than she’d expect. Her arms spread and the pitchfork fell onto the floor with a thunk.

   Peridot just laughed at her responce, persuading herself that her friend was trying to cover the reality up somehow. She snorted twice, shrugging. “Hey, come on, admit it! She gave it to you!”

   She flushed way more, trying to avoid her friend’s teasing gaze. But she wasn’t ashamed only because of Peridot who was thinking about them like that, but even because Lapis was imagining Pearl and herself doing these particular things. “Oh, shut up.” She shook her head quickly, bending down to pick up the pitchfork.

   “So she did!” Peridot watched her, smiling widely as if she predicted right.

   “No, she did not!” Lapis got back up, still red. She could do nothing against Peridot in this conversation. Everything that she would try to explain to her, Peridot would be just about to prove that it wasn’t true. There was almost no way to talk her around, but Lapis had to try. She hated when people didn’t believe her something that was true, and fighting Peridot in these kinds of situations was making her tired more and more often.

   Lapis deeply breathed in, then out. She tried to be calm, speaking in a low voice. “We were just… talking… and maybe cuddling a little.” She tried to explain. “Nothing less, nothing more.”

   The short girl sputtered aloud with a brief chuckle. “Oh yes… and then your fingers accidentaly slipped into her.”

   Lapis winced at that with an offended expression. “Peridot!” She hissed through her teeth, then lowered her voice. “She’s right up there!”

   “So what?” The blonde narrowed an eyebrow.

   “She might hear us!” She alerted.

   “Pff… don’t be such a chickenshit, Lapis. Everybody here knows you want to fuck with her, woman. Everyone wants to get their fingers wet sometimes.”

   The taller girl growled disgustedly, facepalming her own face and shaking her head in disbelief. “Peridot, could you just  _please_  stop talking shit?” She asked, looking through her fingers back at her friend.

   “What-me?” She laughed. “Don’t be like that, I’m just teasing, ya know?” Peridot stepped towards her and lightly nudged Lapis’ shoulder with her own. “Go for it, woman.” With that she blinked and headed to the tack room.

   With eyes big, Lapis blowed her fringe away from her forehead. She felt like she won this _battle_ , for the first time. She was thrilled, but wasn’t able to move for a good minute.

<•••>

   The clock struck eight when Lapis fed her mare. She then groomed her dark coat, cleared her hooves and tacked her up.

   Pearl was still asleep and Lapis thought that she could take at least a brief ride before she gets up. She led Blue out of the stable and walked around it, heading to the riding hall and entering it. She walked Blue deeper into the building and then stopped. She searched in her riding pants pocket and pulled out two pieces of chopped carrot.

   “Here, girl.” She spread her fingers and moved her palm towards Blue’s muzzle so the mare could take the treats. Blue stretched her upper lip and grabbed the carrots into her mouth. After she chewed and swallowed the vegetable, she demanded Lapis to give her some more, but Lapis just giggled.

   “I’ll give you some later, baby girl.” She said in a kind voice. She placed her hand behind the groove of Blue’s chin and pulled her head towards her own chest. With her other hand she stroked the Hanover‘s long, dark nose; from its forehead to the smooth muzzle with a small, white snip between its wide nostrils.

   Blue closed her eyes and nuzzled Lapis’ chest, breathing hot air out of her lungs. Her owner smiled widely and pressed their foreheads together for a moment, still stroking the horse’s nose.

   “You’ll always be my little girl.” She kissed the horse between its eyes and then took its cheeks into her hands, petting them. “I love you.”

   As if Blue understood her, she snorted as in responce and raised her head, looking Lapis into her eyes.

   Lapis could feel a special connection between them two; a bond that was keeping them in harmony ever since Blue was a newborn foal. She loved her more than anybody else, though she loved her as much as her family. If something happened to Blue, it would ruin Lapis, it would tear her heart apart. Blue was the other part of her soul, she was the one who understood Lapis more than anyone. Lapis couldn’t imagine life without her sweet mare.

   But Blue wasn‘t the only one about whom Lapis was proud; proud of having them by her side. Something, or someone, brought a new person into her life; a sweet girl named Pearl. She was entirely controling Lapis’ mind, making her unable to thing about anything or anyone else.

   Suddenly, Lapis shook her head, stopping her train of thoughts. ‘ _Thinking too much_.’ She chuckled to herself, seeing Blue again instead of Pearl in front of her. “Let’s go.”

   She stroked the animal’s nose once more and then she headed to the horse‘s left side so she could mount it. She patted Blue’s strong, muscular neck and then grabbed the reins. Putting her foot into a stirrup, she swang up into the saddle and comfortably settled herself there, putting her other foot into the right stirrup. With a gentle move of her pelvis she asked Blue to walk, accompanied with a soft kick into the mare‘s flanks with her heels.

   They walked a few rounds before Lapis asked Blue to trot. There weren’t high fences in the hall, but there was a bunch of trotting poles sorted on the dirt-surfaced ground. Someone must’ve left them there over night – fortunately for Lapis. Basics were always useful and were needed to refresh one’s mind once per time so Lapis took this oportunity and directed her horse towards the poles. Having an active trot, Lapis took the weight of her body off the horse’s back to allow Blue cross the poles with ease. Approaching the poles, she directed Blue straight to the center of their length, then pulled the reins slightly back to raise Blue’s head and with a soft kicks she made Blue cross the poles by making a step between each of them, and once they made the first round, they cantered round the hall and then, in an active trot, overcame the poles again.

   Then, when they got tired of repeating the same exercize for a quarter of an hour, they were cantering round the arena, changing directions and making brief pauses for Blue to rest a bit.

   “Good girl.” The girl praised her Hanoverian. She bent forwards and patted the mare’s neck for well done work. Then, without interrupting Blue’s walk, she removed her feet from stirrups and sliddown from the saddle, patting the horse once more. Lapis then grabbed the reins and headed to the door to leave the arena, but before she could do so, she noticed someone standing there and watching them, madeking her stop.

   Her tanned cheeks turned beautiful pink. “… Pearl.” Lapis smiled, her knees slightly buckled. “For how long are you standing there?”

   Pearl giggled, arms crossed on her chest. She was leaning against the doorframe, her head was resting there, too. “Long enough to think that your focused expression is the cutest in the world.”

   Lapis’ cheeks went redder this time. She managed to look shyly aside and rub her forearm. “Pearl…”

   Giggles escaped Pearl’s lips. The look at blushing Lapis was just so sweet, she couldn’t help it.

   “Did-did you sleep well?” Lapis then asked, mouth locked in a tight line.

   “I did–“ She blushed, too. “–Sleep well.”

   The blue-haired girl let out something between a laugh and a sigh, then, in an embarrassment, she cleared her throat. “How did you find me here?”

   “Peridot directed me.” Pearl answered in a low voice and moved away from the doorframe with a graceful swing of her body, approaching her friend.

   Lapis’ breath stuck in her throat as she watched Pearl getting closer. For some reason, Lapis felt as if Pearl was getting more and more beautiful every day; more elegant, more enchanting and more attractive. Was it because of yesterday’s night or was it just a pure fact?

   Without any awareness of time, she suddenly found Pearl standing right in front of her – a half a head taller, beautiful human being.

   “Hey.” The tall girl whispered in a warm voice, eyes lowered and fixed on Lapis.

   “… Hey.” Lapis smiled in some sort of a silly way. She couldn’t get rid of a feeling that her hands and forehead started to sweat and that there was something forcing her to step forward.

   She released the reins and her hand lowered, approaching Pearl’s slender one. She scanned her face, her eyes, her lips. The way she was approaching her was causing her body light trembles.

   With a muffled breath, Pearl intertwined her fingers with Lapis, stretching her neck towards her and closing her own eyes.

   Lapis imitated her actions and raised her chin, finding her way towards Pearl’s lips. But as soon as their lips brushed one another, Pearl could feel something unknown thrusting into her arm. She winced immediately and squeaked aloud, eyes wide open in horrify.

   Lapis’ eyes flutter opened, wondering what happened. She then grabbed Pearl by her wrist in effort to calm her down, though she had no idea what exactly went wrong.

   “Oh my god…“ Pearl exhaled deeply after the shock she recieved, breathing fast, pressing her hand intensively against her chest. She realized that the _something_ that thrust into her was Blue’s muzzle. The horse was just standing there and staring at them then.

   Pearl exhaled once again, feeling a bit more relaxed now as she found out what was the source of this unexpected contact, wondering how couldn’t she notice such a huge animal being so close to her.

   Lapis took Pearl by her shoulders and moved her a bit aside, away from Blue, as if she wanted to protect her. “Blue, what are you doing?” She frowned, a confused tone in her voice. She shook her head, pushing Pearl yet more away. “Are you okay? I’m sorry for that.” She then looked at her, facing Pearl entirely.

   “Aah…” Pearl swallowed, staring still at the horse. But after a moment, she looked back at Lapis. “Y-yeah, I’m fine… it’s just the surprise.” She said, then glanced back at the mare.

   “I-huh…” Lapis sighed with a grin. “I’m sorry. I should’ve watched her.”

   “Don’t worry about that.” Finally Pearl calmed down, chuckling. “I should’ve paid more attention to surroundings.”

   Lapis breathed out through her nose, smile on her lips. “She’s obtrusive sometimes.” She shrugged, giving a nod towards her horse. She slid down Pearl's arms and took her hands into her own. “… Especially when someone’s around her mommy.”

   “I see.” The girl snorted, blushing.

   The rider faced her horse, placing one of her hands onto Blue’s muzzle. “You can’t do such things to Pearl, honey.” She chuckled.

   While Lapis was gazing at her Hanoverian, Pearl was carefully watching them, feeling the strong bond between them. It made her smile. Seeing them together was making her happy. Pearl wished she had someone so close to herself like these two were close to one another. She so wanted to join this connection, but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to enter it, if she was allowed to share it with them. There was so much love; love that she has never shared with anyone, but longed for it so much.

   “You’re so cute when you‘re together.” The tall girl sighed sadly, although there was a smile on her cheeks.

   Lapis turned to her with widened eyes. She breathed out a grin, looking aside briefly. “Yeah… she’s my girl.” She patted Blue’s neck lightly, sharing a look with her for a short moment. But after she glanced back at Pearl, something felt strange. Suddenly, she felt as if Pearl was sad. Lapis didn’t want her to feel like that. Maybe she wasn’t sad, but still Lapis could feel that something, even though it could be just a teeny tine feeling, was bothering her.

   “Hey.” The equestrian then addressed her with a light voice, making Pearl’s expression look less gloomy. Lapis wanted to cheer her up at any cost. “I’ve got an idea.”

   Pearl hummed inquiringly, watching her friend. “What idea?”

   “Do you want to give her a treat?” She asked cautiously.

   Pearl’s turquise eyes widened in surprise. She gave Blue a brief look. “I… I don’t know.” She bit her lip and backed a little. This was a big challenge for her, however, she quite wanted to try it.

   “Don’t worry, I’m here with you.” Lapis comforted her, squeezing her hand a bit more. “It’s easy. Look.” She said and slipped her free hand into her pants pocket. Soon, she pulled out two pieces of sliced carrot which made Blue immediately turn her head towards her owner, ears pointing forward.

   “You got to place the treat in the center of your palm and wait for her to take it. Or if you’d like to, you can just give it to her.” Lapis instructed knowledgeably and forced her hand towards her mare’s muzzle. In a short moment, Blue was stretching her upper lip, trying to reach the treat. She grabbed the carrot from Lapis’ palm and happily she started chewing it in her mouth.

   Pearl couldn’t help herself but smile. It just looked so cute. She was thinking about risking it, she wanted to do it, she wanted to try, but she was quite afraid. And while she was thinking, Lapis pulled out more carrots and gave them to Blue, wondering if Pearl was going to challenge her fear.

   “So?” Lapis asked once more, petting the animal’s smooth muzzle while it was chewing.

   Pearl bit her lips from the inside, watching as the mare was enjoying the vegetables and nuzzling Lapis to give her more of it. “Will you… hold my hand?” She asked shyly. It made Lapis’ corners of her lips curl up.

   “Of course.” The equestrian nodded. Her hand slipped into her pocket again and she pulled out more carrots. Slowly, she took her friend’s hand and turned her palm upwards, there she placed some carrots and as Pearl asked her earlier, she underlaid her hand with her own and in a slow pace she was forcing them towards Blue. “Just spread your fingers and let her take it from you.”

   “O-okay…” She breathed out a bit shakily, but did as she was told.

   Lapis put her free arm around the girl’s shoulder to make her feel safe. Blue started stretching her lips again and Pearl’s body shook.

   Lapis squeezed her hand a bit more. “Don’t worry, you’re doing great.” And right as Lapis finished the sentence, Blue’s upper lip brushed Pearl’s soft palm. It was grabbling there only for a brief moment before Blue finally grabbed the carrots into her mouth. It nicely tickled Pearl's soft skin.

   A great wave of relief washed Pearl right as it was finally over. But there was something more she could feel. It was happiness; it was the most beautiful feeling of the joy of success she has ever felt in her life. It was a pure thrill, a feeling that entirely warmed her heart.

She wanted to do it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Peridot and Lapis were talking about last night  
> • Lapis and Blue were training on trotting poles  
> • Pearl fed Blue with carrots
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Wednesday morning)


	21. Getting Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive content

   “Wohow, great job, hon.” Lapis exulted, grinning.

   “… Yeah.” She breathed out, cheeks red. The massive feeling of thrill inside her was getting stronger and soon it overwhelmed her body entirely, it caused Pearl light shivers. This was something big – this moment, this experience.

   Pearl became extremely glad for trying it; glad for everything that had happened to her these past few beautiful weeks. She could feel that she was slowly getting rid of her fear towards horses. Suddenly, she was really proud of herself, she was proud of making these small steps forward. For her it was such a great success. She was proud of facing her fear and glad for stepping into the stable the few weeks ago, for going to the show jumping competition, for meeting Lapis, for, well, everything; for everything that moved her forward to the moment when she was now.

   Pearl then quickly turned to her friend, her white teeth were shining bright. “Can I… do it again?”

   Lapis’ eyes grep big in surprise, wondering if she actually heard what she heard. “What-really?”

   Pearl nodded fast, smiling beautifully at Lapis.

   Lapis couldn't believe it, she was staring at her friend in disbelief. She could sense the happiness pouring out of Pearl; light and pure. Lapis was literally surprised and pleased at how fast Pearl was moving on. Lapis herself was more than happy to do anything for Pearl to help her and to keep her holding onto this attitude. She felt like Pearl was opening more and more and this was making Lapis truly happy. These small steps of success were moving her forward every day, slow, but they were.

   “Pearl, you're full of surprises.” Lapis snickered.

   Pearl chuckled back. “… That's how I work.” She shrugged and waited for Lapis to give her some carrots once again. After receiving the treats, she carefully stretched her hand towards Lapis' horse, spread her fingers and let the Hanover take the treats. Pearl wasn't even shaking this time, she just giggled as Blue's breath and lips tickled her palm. It was nice, yet she could feel the thrill again. It was such a nice feeling, Pearl beamed.

   Blue seemed that she didn't have enough yet so she cautiously poked Pearl into her palm with her muzzle, causing the girl wince right after – poor Pearl wasn’t expecting the horse doing something like that at all. She froze for a second, but then Lapis reacted.

   “Okay, girl.” The rider said resolutely, patting her horse's cheek and stroking her nose. “That's enough of treatment for today.”

   Blue snorted, turning her ears back and head away as if in disagreement, but though it quite looked like it, it only caused Pearl and Lapis laugh.

   “Seems like she doesn't agree.” Pearl giggled, placing her hand onto Lapis' that was resting on her shoulder.

   “She doesn't have to.” Lapis said with a smirk, shaking her head. She stretched her hand, trying to reach Blue‘s reins, but the horse moved its head away from Lapis, leaving her frozen for a moment.

   The rider frowned. “Hey, come on, what are you doing?” She stretched her hand further, but Blue dodged the contact again. For Lapis it seemed as if Blue was up to something – Lapis knew it, she recognized when Blue was toying with her. The mare then teasingly sidestepped away from her with a loud whinny directed to her owner and with a great nod of her head.

   “Now tell me what's your problem.” Lapis grinned playfully and let go of Pearl, heading towards the big animal, but missed the reins once again as the horse started to trot around them and neigh.

   The blue-haired girl exhaled. “Okay now…“ Lapis crossed her arms, tapping her tiptoe against the ground, but Blue didn't take that warning seriously – this was just teasing Lapis even more.

   Lapis was glaring at her horse, though she grinning, quite missing that Pearl was giggling behind her.“Fine, you asked for it.” Lapis made a step towards her mare with heavy steps.

   This whole scene soon turned into a chase as the rider was rushing after her horse and trying to catch it, but the animal was successfully escaping from her and trotting round the hall, nickering and bucking happily.

   “Ohokay! I give up now!” Lapis let out after several long minutes of chasing, arms tiredly swinging along her body.

   Blue whinnied again, accompanied with a loud snort, running around those two and having fun while Lapis was slowly losing her patience, though she was chuckling and watching how Blue was making fun of her inability to catch her.

   Pearl was having a great deal of fun, giggling and watching this whole show. But as soon as Blue headed straight to her, her giggles lightly eased. The horse hid itself behind Pearl and stopped, probably waiting for Lapis’ reaction.

   Lapis let out a half-suppressed laugh and crossed her arms. She found this act of Blue amusing for some reason. “So now you're hiding behind Pearl, huh?" Lapis then approached them with a playful grin. She stood in front of the taller girl and looked over her shoulder at her mare, making side lunges every so often to make Blue run somewhere else.

   Pearl was enjoying it, laughing at how hopeless Lapis was in catching her horse. But suddenly, her giggling caught Lapis’ attention.

   “Hey, what are you laughing at?” Lapis smirked.

   Pearl shrugged several times, still chuckling. After a while she responded. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it.” She then took Lapis’ cheeks into her palms, massaging them with slow circular motions of her palm, pulling Lapis towards herself. “You look so cute when you‘re trying so hard.”

   Lapis sputtered, rolling her eyes and letting her cheeks become pink. “I don’t really find it… what you said – c _ute_.”

   “Oooh, I totally disagree with you.“ The girl shook her head with a wide smile and gave Lapis‘ lips one quick kiss, making Lapis’ head spin a bit.

   There was a brief silence once again and after a while Pearl took this opportunity to give Lapis another kiss, this time onto her cheek; the left one first, then the right one – two small, lovely pecks.

   “Ah, Pearl…“ Lapis looked aside, snickering and blushing, unable to look back at Pearl until another kiss landed onto her lips. Lapis cupped Pearl’s smooth hands with her own, unable to formulate any sensible sentence. Every time she tried, she was interrupted by a sweet buss. “Now sto–p… P–earl, please…“ She pleaded softly, every second disrupted by Pearl’s soft kisses. “I ha–ve to… catch–“

   Pearl’s mood suddenly changed. Something inside her began growing; a heat. There was a light tickling in her stomach, her heart started to shiver. She so wanted to kiss Lapis again and again. She even forgot about Blue, she forgot about the place where they were, forgot to breathe while kissing that cute girl.

   “Mmhm, Pear–“ She swallowed a breath, trying so hard to make herself normally speak, but it was momentally impossible for her. But after a while, she managed to blurt one quick sentence between two Pearl’s kisses. “She’s gonna be jealous.”

   “Mm?” The tall girl moved back a bit and gave Lapis a moment to catch her breath, gasping for air herself. “Who?”

   With a silly grin, enchanted by Pearl’s sweet gaze, Lapis beckoned to Blue with her head, but right after that her eyes widened as she perceived that Blue wasn’t behind her anymore. After a quick glance back at the hall, she in horrify realized that Blue wasn’t anywhere in there. The rider gasped. “Where is she?” She asked, looking back at Pearl.

   “Emm…” Pearl bit her lip and also looked around to check for the horse‘s absence. “I don’t know… how couldn’t you notice her getting away?” She teased her gently.

   Lapis snorted at that, arching her eyebrows with a teasing smile on her lips. “For how long were we kissing?” She asked without answering Pearl’s previous question and cautiously she grabbed her slim wrists.

   Pearl shrugged with a snort. “For maybe like… few seconds?”

   “B-but.” Lapis stuttered, breathing out a chuckle. “Tell me how could she just disappeared like that?”

   Another giggle escaped Pearl’s mouth. She lowered her hands from Lapis’ face gingerly, tossed her arms around her neck and made Lapis place her palms onto Pearl’s shoulders. “Let’s just say that you were  _a little bit busy_.” The skinny girl lowered her voice, now sweet and ribbing.

   Lapis gasped, overexpressing a surprice on purpose. “ I’d like to object that this was rather _your_  fault,  _miss kisser_ … and not mine.” Lapis suggested with a furrowed eyebrows, huge smirk on her lips.

   “Oh?” Pearl arched her thin light brows, also having an evil smile on her cheeks. “You’re blaming  _me_?”

   “Absolutely.” Lapis whispered into her face, making the space between them smaller by pulling Pearl towards her chest. “Do you feel guilty for your actions, my _mistress_?”

   With a sigh Pearl shook her head to herself at Lapis‘ tone and laughed quietly. “… I do feel  _extremely_  guilty for my actions,  _miss Lazuli_.“ Pearl put a mock, regretful tone into her voice just to toy with Lapis a bit more.

   “You’re such a bad girl, dear. You should pay for your shameless behavior.” Lapis continued, getting closer, mind slightly fogged. She was drowning in that familiar feeling of intoxication caused by that beautiful girl. Her tanned hands slowly wandered down from Pearl’s shoulders to her waist, clasping it in her arms.

   Pearl gasped softly. This act sort of disturbed her, but she remained focused, though there was the familiar feeling again; the feeling in her stomach, shivers running through her body. She inhaled and as soon as she looked Lapis in the eyes again, she started to feel rather enchanted. Pearl then took her remaining strength of willness and grabbed the girl by her forearms, giving them a tender squeeze. “And ho-how can I make it up to you, my lady?” She let out dizzily.

   Lapis hummed mysteriously, breathing Pearl into her face, making her and herself blush while getting closer to each other. “ _I would have an idea_.” She said extremely slow, her voice barely a whisper, lips parted and slowly approaching Pearl‘s.

   There was one brief confident laugh from Pearl once again. “… Spit it out.” The girl sighed into the other’s mouth, eyelids half-closed, waiting for Lapis to finally meet her lips.

   Lapis licked her own dry lips and sighed softly. With a gentle pull of her arms she pressed Pearl yet more against herself. Her lips met the corner of Pearl’s and slowly slipped towards her ear.

   Lapis’ breath tickled Pearl‘s cheek, the shivering intensified. Pearl closed her eyes and replaced her hands from the girl’s forearms to her shoulders by shifting them gingerly up.

   Lapis’ breath was suddenly so loud when her lips got too close to Pearl‘s ear. She brushed Pearl’s skin with her full lips lightly, accompanied with a quiet smack of them as she was up to say what was on her chest. A deep, low voice was then released from her lungs and the hot air brushed the tall girl’s peach bangs away from her ear. “… Find my horse.”

   Pearl’s heart froze for a moment, eyes big as two dinner plates. “Wha–you little!” She barked and pushed Lapis away, still with a playful smile on her cheeks. “Just you wait!”

   The rider bursted into laughter and quickly headed towards the doorway with Pearl right behind her back.

   Laughing aloud, she ran along the arena wall towards the stable, Pearl chasing her and calling after her to dare her once more. But before Lapis could get to the corner of the stable building and run away from her friend, Pearl drapped her by her wrist and dragged her back, pinning Lapis to the wall and stepping right in front of her so she couldn’t escape.

   “Hey!“ Lapis was laughing. Meanwhile, Pearl took her other wrist into her hand and pressed it against the wall, too.

   “You’re gonna pay for that.” Pearl purred, breathing fast after the run.

   “Oh? Am I?” The blue-haired equestrian whispered, voice suddenly dishy and low, chest raising and lowering fast.

   “… You bet you are.” She blinked slowly, breathing Lapis into her face and sinking into her eyes.

   But then all of a sudden, Pearl felt like she was someone else; as if this wasn’t her, like this kind of behaving wasn’t hers. She felt like she allowed something, her passionate, keen and eager self inside her, to sprout onto the surface. She was burning. Her skin was hot, her breath likewise, her hands were sweaty. Her heart was bouncing wildly, knees buckling and slightly shaking. This wasn’t like her. Pearl couldn’t recognize herself. She felt like a predátor; hungry for flesh, thirsty for blood. She was even thinking about biting Lapis, thinking about tasting her skin. She wanted to pull her close, to touch her and feel her body. She was approaching Lapis’ lips with every next blink of her greedy eyes, gingerly.

   Lapis lost her breath. She recognized that something was different on Pearl. She could feel her heat, and she could also feel the heat inside herself. Her breath was stuck in her throat, bubbling in her lungs. She was shaking lightly, losing her mind more and more with every next inch as Pearl kept getting closer to her.

   This feeling was new for Lapis, although she already felt this kind of “ _heat_ ” few times before, but not this intense. This one was different – way different. It was deeper, more intensive, passionate, with energy of pure love, a lust. Shivers were running through her whole body. A strange, but pleasant feeling, was growing inside her every time while she was near this girl causing Lapis’ heart explode.

   Her mind was forcing her to touch Pearl, but Pearl’s grip on her wrists was way too tough, though Lapis knew that she was stronger than Pearl and that she could quite easily escape from her, but now, Lapis was just too powerless to do anything. There was something that was keeping her still, something that was forbidding her to get away from those sweet love handcuffs. She started getting used to this lovely treatment.

   “Pearl…” Lapis breathed out, eyes locked on the tall girl‘s lips. She was still getting closer, but for Lapis it seemed to last an eternity to finally get to her. She was shivering, impatiently swallowing Pearl’s hot breath, waiting for her lips, begging Pearl with her eyes to kiss her already.

   But once Pearl seemed that she might comply, she didn’t kiss Lapis just yet; she only brushed her skin very lightly, nuzzling the corner of the girl‘s mouth, tickling her tanned skin while breathing out through her parted lips, causing goosebumps flooding Lapis’ arms and spine.

   “Peaarl…” Lapis pleaded desperately, eyes shut, brows furrowed. But despite her pleading, Pearl didn’t appear to grant it; instead she continued upper her cheek, nuzzling it, brushing it with the lightest touch she could do.

   Her grip then slightly eased and with the tips of her fingers she started petting the inner side of Lapis’ smooth wrists, copying the blue veins underneath her skin.

   Lapis was still, aching, groaning discontentedly at Pearl. She was upset, pleading Pearl so eagerly as she was still teasing Lapis with those fond touches and soft, tiny kisses placed onto her cheek and jaw. “Stop… teasing me like that.” Lapis groaned, shaking in impatience. Her veins under her stomach were pulsing so fast. She could feel a wave of sweat washing her, she felt her stomach tickling, hot air piling up in her lungs, hands shaking.

   But Pearl just laughed softly, taunting at Lapis and teasing her even more as her impatience was growing stronger.

   “Pearl… pleaaase…’ Lapis tried again, asking Pearl tenderly to finally stop with this sweet torture. But the girl wasn’t finished with her yet.

   “Na-aah.” Pearl murmured, refusing to accept Lapis’ desperate begging.

   “…You’re not… gonna like what I’m going to do with you later…“ Lapis threatened, head tilted back against the wall.

   Pearl giggled to herself, but so Lapis could her it. Pearl allowed herself to continue in her task. She thought; she has never actually tried to kiss someone’s neck before. She was always wondering what it could possibly feel like. Well, now she had a chance to try. Lapis sort of appeared to be under her control at the moment. Lapis could’ve just got away from all of this if she really wanted, Pearl thought, but she guessed that Lapis didn’t mind at all, but quite the opposite.

   She so longed for doing it. Lapis was just asking for it – her beautiful bare neck was asking for it. Pearl fixed her gaze at one specific spot under Lapis’ jaw; a spot where a big artery was pulsing. But then she shook her head slightly, paying her attention to Lapis once again. She still wanted Lapis to wait. “Oh? Am I?” She asked in a low voice. “Could I get familiar with what you’re going to do with me?”

   Before Lapis could actually answer her, Pearl appeared so close to her again. This time, she could feel her boiling breath ghosting upon her neck, gliding down along its length.

   Lapis was defenceless. She couldn‘t say anything. She only managed to clench her teeth and hiss quietly. She felt so hopeless, though she liked this feeling so far.

   Soon, Pearl took this oportunity while Lapis wasn’t moving, and decided to act. She was slowly moving her mouth towards Lapis’ neck, already feeling so excited about doing this, though she hasn’t touched her skin just yet. Pearl had a small doubt, too, but she so wanted to do it. Her own neck was one of the most sensitive parts of her body and except for Lapis nobody has ever touched her there. She never longed for it before until Lapis did it – and she really liked it. Since then she started thinking about trying it.

   Lapis inhaled, but then her breath froze as Pearl’s lips met her skin. It was such a sweet and gentle press; light and careful. Lapis then realized how specific Pearl’s kisses were. If Lapis was blindfolded and someone kissed her, she would recognize Pearl for one hundred percent.

   Her cheeks became red right as Pearl pressed another kiss onto her neck and let her body flood with goosebumps. Lapis enjoyed this moment so much; those kisses, but she wasn’t expecting one thing that was going to happen.

   “Owowow! Look what we got here!” A high-pitched voice suddenly came out of nowhere. It surely was Peridot – randomly appearing in situations where no one was expecting her was her speciality.

   Both girls winced at that and promptly got away from each other with cheeks bright red – especially Pearl.

   “Peridot!” Lapis called and leaned away from the wall, fixing her shirt and hair. “What are y-uh… I…” She babbled, almost unable to speak. Later, Lapis realized that there was Blue standing right next to Peridot who was holding her reins.

   Peridot was just standing there with raised eyebrows and a huge smirk on her face, and while Lapis was trying to formulate some reasonable sentence and explain what was going on, Peridot spoke, accompanied with her specific laughter. “Hey, do you really think that this is the first time I saw you making out?”

   This question stopped Lapis from stuttering and made her turn to her blond friend. It left Pearl stunned as well, imagining all the situations when Peridot could see them.

   “W-what?” Lapis’ eyes grew big.

   Pearl turned away from them, too ashamed to make an eye contact with neither Peridot nor Lapis.

   The girl with glasses laughed again. “Hey, it’s fine. I don’t mind, you know.” Peridot then said in a calm voice, making a few steps towards Lapis, leading Blue behind herself. “Here, your horse.”

   With a slight shake of her head and clearing her mind, Lapis stretched her hand and smirked stupidly, still feeling a bit embarrassed because of the whole situation. “… Thanks.” She said, taking the reins.

   Pearl crossed her arms on her chest, hanging up her head between her shoulders and biting her lip nervously. She felt incredibly awkward. The “ _wild her”_  that was just here was suddenly gone and now she was just the same old girl, saying nothing and pretending not to be there. But after a while of staring to nowhere, she remembered something.

   She realized that Amethyst’s birthday party was planned on this Friday and now she had a chance to ask Peridot if she’d like to come, but in this kind of state it was completely unthinkable, though Pearl guessed that there won’t be another chance to ask Peridot. So there it was; she had to ask her now. It was the best time to get out of this embarrassing situation anyway.

   “Ummm…” She started, turned her head to the blonde, but right as their eyes met, she looked aside and blushed yet more. “Peridot?” She let out anxiously.

   “Yeah?” The girl placed her hands on her hips, pouting and watching Pearl and her nervous behaving.

   “Would you… like to come to the brithday party this Friday?” She swallowed, finally she found a courage to look at her.

   “What?” Peridot raised her brow, seeming a bit unbiased. “What party?”

   “Umm…” Pearl froze, trying to find words. But as soon as she found them, Lapis spoke.

   “Oh man, I’m such a piece of jerk.” She palmed her face. “I forgot to tell her, Pearl. I’m sorry.”

   The tall girl glanced at Lapis and grinned, cheeks warm. “It’s fine.” She assured her and bit her lip once more for a brief moment, then she turned back to Peridot. “Garnet invited you and Lapis to Amethyst’s birtday party this Friday evening so I was wondering if you were coming, too.”

   “Eeeh.” Peridot made a confused face, staring at both girls alternately. “ _Who_ is Garnet… and Amethyst?”

   Pearl blushed and Lapis managed to answer first.

   “Oh, those are Pearl’s friends. You should meet them, they’re awasome!” Lapis said excitedly, also trying to escape from the awkwardness. But Peridot didn’t seem much convinced by that so she remained silent. Though she quite liked paties, so why not giving it a chance?

   “Oh, come on.” Lapis spurred her. She placed her hand onto her horse’s nose and stroked it several times. “It’s gonna be fun.”

   The short girl sighed and hung down her arms defeatedly. “Okay, okay… I’ll come.”

   Lapis guessed that Peridot wasn’t that excited about it, but she was sure that she was going to enjoy the party. “Hey, don’t worry. I bet you’re gonna get along with Amethyst. You’ve got a lot in common.”

   “So be it.” Peridot shrugged, but finally she smiled. “Should I bring something?”

   “No, no, it’s fine.” Pearl then rejoined the conversation. “It’s not necessary. We’ll be glad when you show up.”

   “Fine.” Peridot nodded, but she wondered how she was supposed to get there. She hummed, massaging her chin. “But first you have to give me the address.”

   “Don’t worry about that.” Lapis waved her hand and grinned. “I’ll drive us there, I know where it is.”

   “Sounds good to me.” Peridot nodded, ready to go mind her own business now, finally letting those two breathe. She made a few steps backwards and waved at her friends. “Well, I’m going now… see ya later, lovebirds! Yeah and... thanks for the invitation.” With that she turned on her heels, leaving Lapis and Pearl standing there and watching her vanish in distance.

   Pearl waved her back while Lapis was petting her horse and gently admonishing it for its earlier behavior and running away.

   It made Pearl smile how gentle and kind Lapis was, even though she was a bit mad. She couldn’t imagine Lapis being actually angry at someone. Lapis was just wonderful. She was perfect in Pearl’s eyes – and she always will be.

   Pearl cleared her throat softly and approached Lapis. “Well…” She bit her lip and so did Lapis.

   “Yeah…” She looked aside shyly, now wondering what exactly Peridot saw the few moments before the conversation started. “Better not to talk about it, I guess.”

   Pearl didn't say anything at that, although she knew what Lapis meant by that. She just nodded silently.

   After a moment of silence, Pearl breathed out, smile on her face. “Umm, anyway… thank you for accepting the invitation, Lapis.” She said warmly and stepped in front of her friend. She wasn’t even afraid of the distance between herself and Blue, although it was quite short. “I really appreciate that.”

   Lapis hummed, giving Pearl a grin back, voice low and sweet once again. “Thank you for inviting us.”

   “That’s a matter of course.” The girl giggled and fell for Lapis’ charm once more while looking into her eyes.

   “Am I supposed to bring something?” Lapis asked, gazing back at Pearl with cheeks lightly pink.

   “Just youself, dear.” She answered and finally she gave Lapis one great, beautiful kiss that she deserved, onto her lips, making Lapis’ cheeks shine with happiness – at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Blue dissappeared while Pearl and Lapis were busy  
> • Peridot accepted the invitation to Amethyst’s birthday party
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Wednesday morning)


	22. The Party

   The party Friday came up quickly. Pearl already arrived to Garnet’s place and even Amethyst was there, too, though she usually came to parties as the last person. Well, maybe it was because this was her birthday party and she didn’t want to miss the beginning this time.

   Amethyst was kneeling on the kitchen unit while searching for something in the cupboard above her. Garnet was standing next to Pearl while making savory, cutting bread and covering its slices with a garlic or egg spread, putting copped gherkins, spicy salami and cheese onto it and piercing it with a toothpick so it was making one delicious piece of refreshment.

   Pearl was smiling since she woke up this morning, crooning to herself, swinging her hips and dancing while she was washing and rubbing the dishes and turning it into sparkling, crystal-clean pieces. All of a sudden, everyone in the room could hear two loud honks from the outside. Pearl’s heart shivered excitedly.

   “They’re here!” Pearl exulted, raising her head from the dishes. She looked out of the window in front of her and caught a sigh of a dark-blue Kodiak car with two passengers in it. The Kodiak parked right next to the entrance to Garnet’s large house after crossing the long gravel driveway.

   Pearl, all impatient, put the plate into the sink, poorly she dried her hands with a towel and ran straight to the main door.

   Garnet smiled behind her. She realized that she hasn’t seen Pearl so happy in a while. She was really glad for her, too. Garnet knew that Pearl was very sensitive young girl and that she could bear things with very great difficulty when it came to the worst, but she also knew that she was strong; stronger than many people she knew.

   Breathlessly, Pearl grabbed the door handle and wide opened the heavy door, grinning at the world outside.

   The engine was turned off and the first one who got out of the car was Peridot. “Hey, pointy nose.” She slammed the door, grin on her lips, then she headed to the rear door and opened it, searching for something on the backseat.

   “Hey, Peridot.” Pearl greeted back, leaning her side against the doorframe, arms folded.

   Then another girl got out of the Skoda; a beautiful, enchanting, breathtaking, blue-haired young girl. She wore red checked shirt with rolled-up sleeves, short jeans ending just below her knees and her stylish watch resting on her left hand – Pearl always found it charming and sexy when Lapis wore it. Then something caught Pearl’s attention as she saw a bright glint coming from Lapis’ throat. After realizing what it was, Pearl gasped. ‘ _It’s the pearl_.’ The girl beamed hugely. ‘ _She’s still wearing it_.’

   “Wohoo!” Someone called, making Pearl shake her head. It was Lapis and she was waving at her, approaching her, walking up the three steps to the porch where Pearl was standing.

   “Lapis.” Pearl grinned, blushing and biting her lip, head hiding between her shoulders.

   “Hey, precious.” Lapis greeted, voice sweet and low. She stood in front of her friend and offered her arms while Pearl was shyly biting the back of her forefinger, hiding the smile behind her hand.

“Hi, honey.” She whispered and fell into Lapis’ arms, hugging her tightly.

   Lapis sighed happily at that. She closed her eyes and nuzzled the girl’s thin neck, hugging Pearl back. Lapis could smell a sweet, light perfume; the one that Pearl usually wore, the one that was always causing her shivers and a desire to kiss Pearl crazy. But she had to contain herself not to do something stupid, namely in front of everyone present.

   “I’m so happy you arrived.” Pearl said and leaned back a bit, looking Lapis into her eyes. The smaller girl chuckled a little.

   “So am I.” She admitted and squeezed Pearl’s wait a little bit more to make her come closer. “I brought you something.” She whispered.

   Pearl’s eyes grew big in surprise, then she giggled. “And what is it? You?” Her eyes were sparkling.

   Lapis blushed and hummed aloud, raising her shoulders, her gaze went to a side for a while as if she was thinking. “ _That_  and one more thing.”

   Her sweet look made Pearl giggle again. She could already feel her cheeks being warm, and while her arms were resting around the girl’s shoulders, she rubbed them with her fingers gently. “So?”

   It made the corners of Lapis’ lips curl up. She closed her dark eyes once again and pouted slightly, pressing her lips against Pearl’s.

   Pearl smiled to their kiss and gave Lapis one right back, only way sweeter and passionate.

   Their lips smacked as they pulled apart, dusting Pearl’s cheeks yet more. She felt dazed after looking at her. Lapis just looked so sexy in red.

   “Pearl?” A tender voice then brought Pearl back to earth. She shook her head slightly.

   “Oh-uh, I’m sorry, I just…” She tried, pulling her hair behind her ear embarrassingly and avoiding making an eye contact with Lapis. “I'm sorry. You’re just… you look so  _beautiful_.”

   It left Lapis frozen for a moment, but then she snorted. “What-me?” She chuckled, but soon she calmed herself down, giving her beloved friend another kiss. “Pearl…  _I_  should be the one saying that. Just look at you!” She stepped back, gesturing at Pearl’s appearance. “I  _never_  saw you wearing a dress. You look so… magnificent in it!”

   “Ah, Lapis… stop it. You’re embarrassing me.” She bit her lips from the inside, all red and flattered. Intertwining her own fingers, she was shyly rubbing her thumbs.

   “I’m serious.” Lapis grinned, scanning her beautiful, short peach-colored dress patterned with tiny flowers.

   Pearl couldn’t hide her red cheeks and the great smile popping out. She only managed to pull her bang behind her ear again. After a while, she made herself look up at Lapis who was enchantedly looking back at her.

   “Hey, lovebirds!” Peridot suddenly called out at them, standing nearby the car and holding a carton box in her arms; it seemed kind of heavy. “Mind helping me over here?”

   “Um-yeah, coming!” Lapis cleared her throat with an apology grin directed to Pearl and ran down the stairs to Peridot, taking the box from her.

   “What’s in there?” Pearl asked curiously, stretching her neck as if to get closer to the box and find out what was hiding in it.

   “Pyrotechnics, I thought Amethyst could be into fireworks, so.” Lapis said, heading back up the stairs.

   “Well, who wouldn’t be?” Pearl wiggled her shoulders and pouted. “Though, can you even manipulate with it?”

   “Yeah, Peri’s a technician. She knows how to handle these kinds of things.” She winked, then turned back to Peridot, watching her pulling a bottle of red wine out of the backseat and closing the door.

   “I bet girls are gonna love it.” Pearl smiled, gazing at the blonde coming up to them.

   “Hey, we brought red wine, is that cool?” Peridot asked, raising the bottle.

   “Ah, you guys.” Pearl’s brows furrowed, smile on her lips. “You shouldn’t have.”

   “Well, then I can drink it down myself.” The small girl joked. Lapis and Pearl laughed at that and after a moment Pearl led them inside to meet the others.

 

   “Hey there, guys!” Lapis greeted when she entered the kitchen. She received a response right after.

   “Hey, dude!” Amethyst grinned and jumped down from the unit, running towards Lapis. “Nice to see you, thanks for coming!”

   “Nice to see you, too.” Lapis said joyfully and carefully she put down the box. She then offered her hand to Amethyst and smiled. “Happy birthday.”

   The girl with light purple hair immediately took her hand and squeezed it firmly. “Hey thanks!” She called, chuckling. But then the box caught her attention. “What’s in there?”

   “It’s a surprise. You have to wait until evening.” Lapis reported.

   “Aaah-what? Maan, I hope these are porn magazines in there.” Amethyst rubbed her chin, but immediately started laughing, soon followed by Lapis. Garnet tried hard not to smirk at that, but she failed – just as Pearl.

   “Okay now, Amethyst.” Pearl let out one last chuckle and entered the room. “Quit it, we have guests here.”

   “Come on, P, they’re not kids anymore, right?” Amethyst waved her off, still snorting. Then suddenly, Garnet spoke, leaving the savory to greet Lapis.

   “Hello, Lapis.”

   “Hey, Garnet.” The equestrian waved and approached the woman as well, giving her hug. “Nice to see you again.”

   “You too.” Her dark eyes shone underneath her shades. And while they were hugging, Garnet noticed a small girl standing behind Pearl, rubbing her nape nervously. “I see your friend came as well.”

   “Yeah.” Lapis agreed and after the hug she headed to Peridot. She took her hand and led her further to the kitchen. She found it funny that Peridot felt nervous, although she was very sociable and she could adapt very quickly. “Guys, this is Peridot.” She introduced, pushing the girl towards Amethyst and Garnet and introducing them back to her.

   “Nice to meet you. I’m Garnet.” She stretched her hand with a warm smile on her lips.

   Peridot hesitated for a moment, staring at that big woman, scanning her from top to bottom. She never saw a woman so big – well, maybe except for Lapis’ ex girlfriend and their stable farier. But finally she accepted her hand and shook with it.

   “You too. I’m Peridot.” She said, her cheeks flushed. She stared at their joined hands; Garnet’s was big and warm while her own was too small and cool. It seemed funny to her. Peridot enjoyed this contact, but remembered that there was another human to greet so she let go of Garnet’s hand and turned to Amethyst.

   “Hey, nice to meet ya. I’m Amethyst.” She offered Peridot her hand which was soon accepted.

   “Peridot. Nice to meet you, too.” The blonde grinned and scanned the girl in front of her; she seemed okay. “Oh and… happy birthday to you.” She added. “We brought a bottle of wine. Hope it’s okay.”

   The purple-haired girl snorted and slapped her thigh. She had to laugh at how nervous and unsure the girl seemed. “Man, sure is! Thanks, you shouldn't have.” She then took the bottle that Peridot offered her.

   Pearl beamed and she clapped her hands together happily, a fine smile played on her cheeks. “Let the party begin then.”

 

   After Garnet finished making the savory, she delivered the filled plates to the garden and placed them onto the table in pergola. Lapis helped Pearl bring drinks and glasses there while Amethyst was searching for a radio which she wanted to bring into the pergola. Peridot was sitting in the open space in the back of the garden and setting up the pyrotechnics, which Garnet allowed with pleasure. She was also very excited about it, and so were the others.

   “Hey, Garnet, where’s the socket?” Amethyst called as she put the radio onto its place, searching for the mentioned socket.

   “Under the shelf.” She gestured and smiled right after Amethyst found it.

   The small, purple-haired girl turned the radio on and tuned their favorite radio station. “Man, I love when things work.” Amethyst sighed with a smirk, patting the radio. “Hey, G, is your sister coming?”

   Garnet hummed deeply and rubbed her chin, she pulled back from the table. “Yes, she should be here in a half an hour.”

   “What? Sardonyx is coming, too?” Pearl cheered, Lapis gazing at her from her chair. “I haven’t seen that girl in a while.”

   Garnet chuckled under her breath. “That’s why I invited her.”

   “This is going to be fun.” Pearl grinned. “And how about Smoky, Amethyst?”

   “Hey, she had a dayshift today, so she’s probably coming, too.” Said Amethyst and with a huff she dropped herself into a chair.

   Seeing Pearl smiling like that made Lapis smile herself. Cross-legged, supporting her chin with her palm, she was watching Pearl with dreamy eyes, watching her every move, every blink of her eyes, when the corners of her mouth turned up, when her teeth shone as she smiled. She even noticed that Pearl had freckles, too, but they were as light as one could barely notice. And before she started scanning her like that, she was about to ask something, but she totally forgot what. She didn’t mind though. It was probably some unnecessary question when it vanished that quickly.

   But soon, Pearl noticed that Lapis was staring. She chuckled to herself. The look at Lapis was just marvelous; she was just staring at her, eyes dreamy, wide smile on her cheeks. Lapis wasn’t even blinking or paying attention to Pearl when she waved her hand right in front of her nose. Pearl had to giggle, she couldn’t help it. Even calling her name didn’t help.

   She decided to lean closer. Slowly, Pearl drew their lips together, kissing Lapis gently, and after a while she noticed Lapis coming back to her senses.

   “Pearl?” She addressed her, a bit confused about what just happened.

   “What were you daydreaming about?” Pearl asked softly, giggling, still being close to Lapis. She leaned her palms against the armrest of Lapis’ chair, but before Lapis could answer, they could hear Amethyst snorting.

   “Probably about getting you undressed.” The girl laughed, slapping her thigh.

   Pearl's cheeks got red and so did Lapis’. Pearl noticed that Garnet was trying her best to bite back a grin, also noticing Peridot coming back to them.

   “We’re set.” Peridot placed her hands onto her hips and stepped next to the table where the rest was sitting at.

   “Nice.” Lapis crossed her arms, smiling.

   All of a sudden, two more honks sounded from the driveway on the other side of the house. Garnet rose from her seat, informing others about going to check their guests.

   It turned out to be Sardonyx along with Smoky who arrived. Garnet warmly greeted them and led them to the back of her house where others were impatiently waiting and starting the party.

   “Goood evening, everybody!” The other dark-skinned woman called into the air. She wore shades, too, dark jacket and trousers, holding a birthday bag in each hand. “Amethyst dear, happy birthday!”

   “Sardonyx, thank you!” The girl grinned and rose from her chair, heading straight to her with open arms. “Nice to see you, big woman… is it triue you brought my sis with you, too?”

   “Oh, yes! I brought her with myself. She just needed to nip off, she’ll be here in a minute.” The woman said, putting the bags down next to the table for a while to let her arms rest. Her smile then widened as she saw Pearl sweetly grinning at her. “Pearl, you’re here, too! It’s so sweet to see you, darling.” Sardonyx said, offering Pearl arms.

   Pearl accepted them and hugged the woman around her neck. “Yeah, you too!”

   “Watch out, everybody, here comes the terror!” Suddenly, Amethyst called with a chuckle, heading to her older sister who just appeared standing in the backdoor. Her skin and hair was a bit darker than Amethyst’s, she had freckles on her cheeks and was just as perky as her sister.

   “Yo yo, little sis! Happy birthday!” Smoky cheered and shook Amethyst with her hand. “We got you something. You’re gonna like it.”

   “Owow, show me, man!” Her shorter sister spurred her and followed her to the table. Along with Sardonyx, Smoky gave Amethyst the bags, soon followed by Amethyst’s joyful yell which could probably hear the whole city. “Oh my god! No. No way! I needed that  _so much_! Thanks, you guys!”

   Then, after a few long minutes, as Amethyst was trying to calm down from whatever she received as a gift, they all sat at the table and started their party. Pearl introduced Lapis and Peridot to Sardonyx and Smoky. All of them happily greeted each other with shaking their hands and saying cheers while raising their glasses.

 

   The clock has already struck 6 PM. The time was running fast as everyone was having fun. The sky was clear and slowly darkening, crickets were chirping, the radio was playing in the background, laughing could be heard everywhere around the house and everybody has drank down at least one glass of wine or beer. Well, except for Pearl.

   “Pearl, dear, you still haven’t learned to drink?” Sardonyx joked, holding a glass of red wine in her hand, leaning against the table onto her elbow.

   “Fortunately not.” Pearl shook her head, hands resting under the table in her lap.

   “You don’t drink?” Lapis asked, a disbelieving look on its place. She was holding her own glass in her hand, taking the same position as Sardonyx.

   Amethyst snorted aloud, having a third glass of beer digested already. “Sure she doesn’t! She was drinking Coca-cola on her eighteenth b-party, man.”

   “No kidding.” Smoky added, later bursting into laughter with her younger sister.

   And while their crazy laugh was slowly vanishing, Garnet noticed Peridot staring at the table and twiddling her thumbs. Garnet could see that the blonde was sort of nervous probably because there were so many new people around her. Garnet decided to address her, she had nothing better to do anyway.

   “So, Peridot.” She spoke in her deep voice, making the girl raise her head.

   “Yeah?” She cleared her throat and stopped twiddling, blushing slightly.

   “I heard you ride horses, too?” She asked, but it was rather a notification than a question. She then took her glass and took a sip.

   “Well, yes, but… I’m not far as good as Lapis.” She scratched her nape, looking aside briefly. “I ride… just for fun.”

   Then another loud snort came from Amethyst’s mouth, it made Peridot wince this time. “Well,  _who doesn’t?_ ” She slapped the table with her first, bursting into laughter once again with her sister and Sardonyx soon following. Garnet, Pearl and Lapis joined them soon after.

   “Good one.” Lapis snorted.

   And finally Peridot let herself chuckle at that, too. She had to admit that Amethyst was really good in jokes. This was kind of a different level of jokes than hers, or maybe it was all caused by the third beer?

   “Hey.” Peridot chuckled, suddenly remembering her pyrotechnics lying at the very back of the garden. “It’s dark already. We could blow out some petards.”

   “What-petards?” Smoky gasped excitedly, rising from the seat.

   “Oh, man!” Amethyst stood up quickly, too, shifting the table a little because of it. “What petards?!”

   “The ones from the box we brought.” Lapis said, taking a sip of her second glass of wine, she then put the glass back down onto the tabletop with Pearl watching her movements.

   The purple-haired girl yelled so enthusiastically and headed straight to the back of the garden. Now she realized what was Peridot doing there earlier. "Hell yeah! Let's do it!"

   The rest of the quests stood up as well and followed the cheerful girl to the other side of Garnet’s wide garden. Well, except for Pearl and Lapis who remained sitting in their chairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Peridot and Lapis came to the birthday party  
> • Sardonyx and Smoky appeared on the party  
> • Lapis and Peridot met Sardonyx and Smoky for the first time
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Friday)


	23. Officially Yours

   Pearl sighed softly, watching the others disappearing in the dark while traveling across the garden to the very end of it where Peridot’s pyrotechnics were. Lapis was watching, too, Pearl noticed. She was smiling, her dark eyes were shining in the moonlight, freckles dancing on her cheeks. Pearl couldn’t even describe how much beautiful Lapis was. In her eyes, she was just perfect. Every time she was with her, the energy she always felt was very pleasant and harmonic – she never wanted to let go of it. She just longed for being with Lapis, to breathe the same air, laugh at the same things or just make an eye contact. These things were so important to her and she always felt like she was loved and wanted.

   Fortunately for Pearl, their chairs were close enough for Pearl to reach Lapis so she shifted a bit closer in her seat, gingerly she wrapped her arms around Lapis’ and laid her head down onto her shoulder, snuggling to her and closing her eyes.

   Lapis’ eyes opened wide with a flutter. She turned her head towards Pearl and hummed happily underneath her breath. She then placed one gentle kiss onto the top of the girl’s head and then laid her own head onto hers. “What is it, are you tired, kitty?” She whispered, taking Pearl by her hand and pecking her knuckles.

   Her response was negative, but she chuckled softly. She tilted her head up so she could see Lapis, and stroked her cheek with the hand that Lapis was holding. “I’m just really glad you’re here.”

   Lapis breathed out a grin, briefly looking towards their friends and then back at Pearl. “Me too.” She blinked slowly, now leaning down to Pearl and placing a tasteful kiss onto her lips, still holding her smooth hand.

   A great wave of warmth flooded Pearl, her cheeks turned red. She couldn’t escape from a giggle as the kiss ended. She appreciated Lapis’ presence so much, more than anyone else’s. For the first time in her life, she felt like everything was like it was supposed be; it was right.

   She stroked Lapis one more time and returned the kiss. Her arms soon appeared around her neck and tugged Lapis closer as Pearl started to kiss her constantly.

   The equestrian's arms surrounded Pearl’s waist, but unfortunately there were two armrests between them, she couldn’t pull Pearl more close. She felt sad because she knew that she had Pearl just for herself now, but she couldn’t even tug her close. And the more this was making her upset, the more she was focusing on making her kisses perfect so Pearl could at least enjoy what they had.

   Pearl thought that although Lapis’ drunk two glasses of wine, she was very gentle and careful towards her; stroking and scratching her back fondly. Usually, Pearl was trying to make as less contact with drunk people as possible because she was afraid of them and their affected behavior. But now she perceived that alcohol probably had different consequences on different people, and Lapis seemed really sweet and cautious to her so far.

   They’ve been kissing for a while and both of them paid too much attention to one another that they haven’t noticed that the firework’s already started. But soon the loud banging of petards brought them back to earth and out of the love ecstasy they were experiencing. Then, they could also hear Amethyst and her sister’s joyful screaming from the back of the garden.

   They pulled apart followed by a quiet smack of their lips; extremely slow and with a hint of discomfort because none of them wanted to get away from the other. They kept their hands on their places, longing for more contact and staring at each other. Both of them knew that they couldn’t do this for too long, yet right in front of others, though they were probably paying attention to the firework. Then, they decided to save something for later by one last kiss.

   Pearl’s heart was beating as loud as those petards banging in the sky, probably even making as colorful firework inside her chest.

   “Pearl?” Lapis let out in whisper, now staring at the color-changing sky.

   “Yes?” She murmured. She turned her head to Lapis with a beam, still catching her breath after the kissing.

   Lapis bit her lip and blushed lightly. There was something on her chest and it was important; really important to her. She was thinking about that question, thinking about how to formulate it and how to say it correctly without stuttering or forgetting the words. Her heart was aching for so long because she so longed for the answer; for several long weeks. She was thinking about it every night before falling asleep, in the morning after waking up and during whole day working in the stable. She loved Pearl so much – that much that she almost couldn’t express it with words or even a kiss. She just wanted to make sure that Pearl loved her back the same way.

   “I…” Lapis cleared her throat nervously, then yet one more time. She noticed Pearl beautifully looking at her with a warm, wide smile across her cheeks and eyes half-closed. ‘ _Damn me…_ ’ Lapis cursed to herself. She found Pearl more and more beautiful every time, every single second while being with her.

   Finally, she made herself speak, but before she did, she cleared her throat again. “I’m not sure if I’ve already asked you that, but…” She started, though she knew she hasn’t. She needed to mask her nervousness somehow so she started with this and after a moment she finally caught her breath and courage to ask. “Will you… date me, Pearl?”

   Lapis left Pearl sort of stunned after that. Pearl wasn’t expecting anything like this kind of question whatsoever. Her eyes went wide and her jaw slightly dropped down.

   Although Lapis was shaking really badly and nearly sweating, she was looking at Pearl and waiting for her response, but for good ten seconds nothing happened.

   Lapis’ hopeful expression was slowly turning into sorrowful one as she was receiving no answer. But all of a sudden, she jolted slightly at the quick and unexpected movement that Pearl made. Lapis hasn’t even managed to blink twice and she found Pearl’s arms wrapped around her neck, squeezing her so firmly that she almost couldn’t breathe. On a top of that, Pearl was as quick as Lapis couldn’t notice that the girl began kissing her again.

   Her dark eyes turned backwards at the pressure of Pearl’s lips – that kiss felt so damn good. She never experienced Pearl kissing her this passionately. For a moment, Pearl was pressing her body against the other as much as Lapis started having a feeling like if her chair was going to fall over with both of them. But then Pearl pulled back, gulping for air and so was Lapis.

   “… Ow…” Lapis gasped, eyes wide, cheeks burning. “Well, I… I wasn’t expecting anything like that at all.” She shook her head in disbelief while Pearl was standing in front of her and looking down at her.

   Her pale cheeks turned red as well. Her smile was enchanting and wide; long from one ear to the other one. The girl then started giggling at Lapis’ expression. She was flattered because her plan worked out very well. “Lappy, are you alright?” She chuckled and squatted down in front of her chair, taking Lapis’ knees into her palms.

   “For a moment…” She blurted, eyes fixed to nowhere while she was spasmodically squeezing both armrests. “I felt like I was going to pass out… that was… something.”

   Pearl kept still and watched Lapis, still chuckling under her breath. The look at Lapis and the way she was confused was just priceless.

   After a few moments of friendly taunting, Pearl decided to stop. She spoke kindly to Lapis and stroked her knees with her thumbs several times. “Sure I will date you, honey.” She smiled, her voice was sweet.

   Lapis’ squeeze weakened, her eyes seemed less milky now. She blushed. “Really?” Lapis asked and straightened in her seat. And as a response she received a smile; bright and honest, charming and warm.

   “Yes.”

   Lapis smiled to herself. Suddenly, she felt like everything just came real, like if an unreachable dream came true. She wasn’t able to express how flattered she was. She was convinced that everything was right and yet that the best had yet to come. She finally felt like home.

   “Pearl, I…I…” Lapis grinned joyfully, cheeks and eyes shining. She leaned forward and hugged Pearl tightly, nuzzling her neck. She then let out a relieved exhale, squeezing Pearl yet more and giggling, which was the only thing she could express her happiness with; she couldn’t do more at that moment. There were so many emotions overwhelming her as much as she wasn’t able to formulate any words.

   The skinny girl hugged her right back as she was squatting between her thighs. She let her head lay down onto Lapis’ shoulder and contentedly hummed to herself, letting them fall into harmonic silence; the silence they loved above all.

   “I love you…” Lapis whispered. She could feel a lump stack in her throat. There were tears in her eyes, too. She couldn’t even remember the last time she felt this amazing.

   Pearl sighed through her nose with a giggle, making her smile widen. “I love you, too.”

 

   They stayed like that for a while, silently breathing with eyes closed, hugging without anybody disturbing them. Until…

   “Wohohooo, look! We’ve been away for fifteen minutes and there are orgies already!” Amethyst yelled into the darkness while running back to the pergola with the rest following her.

   Pearl stood up immediately and jumped away from Lapis, letting her and Lapis’ cheeks burn. Right, kneeling between Lapis’ legs in the dark probably wasn’t best-looking.

   “Amethyst?” Pearl panicked slightly and tried to sit back into her chair, but almost missed it and fell down because she had her back turned towards it. “We-we were not–”

   “– _Youuu_ can’t hushhh that up, P!” The girl sat down into her seat with a huff. “ _I s_ aw  _youuu_.” She sang and pointed at them. There was a hint of drunkenness in her voice, too.

   Right after Amethyst, there came Garnet and took a seat, speaking slowly so the purple-haired girl could understand her. “Amethyst, you should watch the bottles you drink.” The woman proposed.

   “Pff, chill ouuut, I’m _fiiine_!” She let out aloud, she then turned her head up and swung herself in her chair.

   “Just let her be, sis.” Sardonyx said, sitting down at the table. “It’s her day today, right?”

   Garnet said nothing for a moment, watching others sitting down into their chairs. “Yes, of course. But if she throws up in my bathroom you’re going to clean it.” She notified, but chuckled.

   “Deal!” Sardonyx nodded and grabbed her glass. “Cheers!” She called and raised the glass, then drunk it all down.

   Smoky imitated her and also drunk her glass. Peridot with Garnet stayed still, watching them.

   There was silence for a while and Lapis was nervously drumming her fingers against the tabletop, wondering if she should say something because most of the present people was watching her, and if not, then they stared at Pearl.

   Lapis cleared her throat. “The… firework was really pretty, Peridot.”

   But before Peridot could answer, Amethyst sputtered. “Pretty you say? I bet you weren’t even watching.  _You_ … were  _busy_!” She hiccoughed, then burst into laughter.

   Peridot smirked and let out a snort. “I bet.” She said, placing her folded arms onto the table.

   Pearl and Lapis bit their lips, giving one another a look with a corner of an eye, avoiding looking at each other directly and getting embarrassed even more. But soon Amethyst’s taunting made Pearl feel bad, she felt ashamed, awkward even, though she didn’t do anything wrong. She had to hide behind her hand and pretend that she wasn’t there. It quite hurt this time.

   Lapis noticed it. She noticed Pearl’s sorrowful expression and her glassy eyes. She decided to act immediately and so she spoke straight to the small girl who was sitting across the table. “Amethyst…” She admonished her gently, and for her surprise the girl stopped, though it took her a moment before she did.

   Then, they appeared in another silence, but soon there started another conversation and everything was right on its place. Peridot accepted Garnet offering her a drink, Amethyst, Smoky and Sardonyx were talking about their jobs. Even Pearl joined their conversation a bit later while Lapis was talking with Peridot and Garnet. Food was dwindling very quickly and so was wine and beer. It was 11 PM already, but the weather was still warm. The only thing that was slightly annoying them were mosquitoes flying around them and thrusting into the bulb of the lamp hanging above the table.

   Pearl took a little break from talking and just listened to others, enjoying how they were smiling, joking and laughing. She was glad that even Lapis was having fun, and the act when she admonished Amethyst really surprised her. She really must care her, Pearl thought.

   And while Pearl was supporting her chin with her hand, holding Lapis’ hand under the table with the other one and listening to surroundings, she started to pay more attention to the radio that was playing in the background. She was listening to it for a bit, crooning to herself and swinging her head to the slow rhythm. She closed her eyes and listened more carefully to the sound, singing along with the singer and moving her eyes underneath her eyelids like if she was imagining something, smiling beautifully. But unfortunately for her, the song ended quite soon. She opened her eyes again, appearing back in reality, but despite this she was still smiling, and later she noticed Lapis petting the back of her hand with her thumb under the table. This was just so, so cute and comfortable.

   “Hey, P.” Pearl could hear suddenly and it made her turn her head to Amethyst.

   “Yes?” Her head rose from her palm.

   “That one’s your favorite.” Amethyst raised a bottle of beer and beckoned towards the radio.

   Pearl raised her eyebrows and paid her attention to the radio once more, realizing that Amethyst was right – the new playing song really was her favorite.

   She exulted and stood up, taking Lapis’ hand which she was holding. “Lapis, come dance with me.” She asked, jolting in an enthusiasm.

   Lapis turned her gaze towards the skinny girl and thought for a few seconds, humming. “Pearl, I… I'm sorry, I don’t dance.” She tried to refuse cautiously with a slight shake of her head.

   “Oh, _Lapi_ _s_ ,  _pleeease_.” Pearl groaned, now holding her with both of her hands, tugging Lapis up gently. “Just one dance.”

   “Pearl, I…” She shook her head. She knew that she can’t dance and  _this_  was maybe the only thing she knew very well. She knew that she’d just get embarrassed in front of everyone. “I really can’t.” She said sadly, complicating Pearl making her stand up.

   Amethyst then snorted and rolled her eyes, watching these two with interest. “Hey, Lapidude.” She chuckled, holding another full bottle of beer in her hand. “It’s not going to work, bae. She’s gonna keep begging you unless you concede.”

   Lapis froze for a second, realizing that there was probably no way out now. She swallowed and gave a brief look to Pearl who was smiling and pleading her with her eyes, and then she looked back at Amethyst who was biting back a laughter.

   “Go for it, Lapis.” Garnet spurred her gently and grinned at her.

   "Yeah, we won't watch." Amethyst proclaimed, but everyone knew she was just making fun of her.

   ‘ _There’s no escape, Lapis…_ ’ She said to herself and exhaled, eyes closed. It took her a moment, but eventually she gave Pearl a defeated smile and stood up.

   Pearl exulted in a high voice and as a little child she jumped several times on the spot joyfully. She then led Lapis further to the garden, but far enough so they could still hear the music.

   Lapis was so against dancing, though, she knew that she was doing a good thing now. She would do anything to make Pearl happy, maybe even if it was hugely against her will. What to say; she loved her, and she was ready to do anything for her princess.

   “Pearl, I…” She tried, but Pearl was too excited to pay any attention to her. So she tried again. “… Pearl.”

   “Yes?” She raised her head and grinned, holding Lapis’ hands.

   Lapis sighed and looked aside for a while before looking back at her friend. “I  _can’t_  dance… I-I have no idea how to do it.”

   “Like… at all?” She asked, her smile a bit weakened.

   Lapis felt too ashamed to say anything, but despite it, Pearl’s smile was on its place once again. She spoke to her softly.

   “I will help you.” The tall girl whispered. “Just watch my steps.”

   “… Alright.” Lapis nodded.

   The skinny girl slowly moved Lapis’ left hand towards herself and placed it onto her right shoulder, then Pearl’s hand surrounded Lapis’ waist and pulled her against her chest.

   Lapis’ cheeks turned red immediately, her stomach was tickling from the inside and she started to feel nervous because of the others watching them.

   Pearl made a first step and with a smooth move of her pelvis she pushed Lapis back to make her imitate her movements. Lapis was naturally very alert; partly, it was caused by the contact with horses, too, so she could learn and adapt quite quickly.

   For her fortune, this song was slow and so she could easily learn steps with a slight help from her dance partner. Pearl’s movements were really smooth and gentle, Lapis noticed. She also had a feeling like if Pearl was born for this; she was dancing very well – Lapis could tell, although she had no experiences in this industry. She was guiding Lapis and supporting her the whole time, showing her the right direction and helping her to make right steps at the right time. Lapis was sort of clumsy at first, but the longer they were dancing, the better she was doing, and Pearl could notice that. She was whispering to Lapis, saying soothing and encouraging words to her, and this sweet encouragement was making Lapis feel more confident.

   But before they could enjoy the dance entirely, the song was slowly coming to an end. Pearl so wished the song could last forever, she was enjoying this moment like nothing before. Dancing with Lapis was one of her dreams and now she couldn’t feel happier. She would love to dance again, again and again with her, but she didn’t want to torment Lapis, although she noticed her smiling during the dance every so often.

   Soon, the song was over and they both stopped, but remained standing in their positions. They were breathing softly and looking at each other, wondering what to do now. Pearl had a plan, but it was up to Lapis what she decides to do.

   Lapis admitted that it wasn’t that bad at all. She wouldn’t dance voluntarily for sure, but after this, if Pearl asked her again, maybe she would dance with her. Now she just needed a little break and sit down after this performance for a moment.

   “Lapis.” Pearl breathed out, grinning at her. “You lied to me.”

   “What?” She chuckled, her forehead was sweating, just as her hands.

   “You said you can’t dance.”

   “Well, I can’t.” She shrugged, cheeks getting warm. “I was just following you.”

   Pearl had to laugh briefly at that. “Stop joking.”

   “I’m not.” The equestrian shook her head and let her hand slid down from the girl’s shoulder along her arm so she could take Pearl’s other hand, too. “You’re just a great teacher.”

   Pearl hummed at that, smiling down at Lapis and giving her forehead a small peck. “And you’re a great student.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis asked Pearl if she will date her  
> • Pearl and Lapis were dancing to slow music
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Friday night)


	24. No Time to Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive/mature content

   The wall clock read two and a half an hour past midnight. The party was over and everyone was already asleep – except for Pearl.

   She was lying in her preferred place in Garnet’s big house; in a great living room where one wide, bay window with a bed built-in was. This was her most favorite spot; she so loved sleeping in there. She could easily watch everything going on around her and she liked this benefit. This window didn’t have curtains so Pearl could see the entire garden perfectly, too.

   They all could be happy there was a nice weather during the party because now the sky was covered with clouds and soon it started to rain. But the rain was easy, drumming softly against the bay window under which Pearl was resting.

   The air inside the house was warm and so Pearl casted off the sheets because they were no more needed. She was watching raindrops falling onto the glass, how they were rolling down and how the individual streams were merging into one trail of water. She had her hands folded under her head, listening to quiet ticking of the wall clock hanging across her bed, and expect for that she could hear someone snoring in one of the three quest rooms – Amethyst, she guessed.

   Pearl was tired, but she couldn’t make herself sleep. It wasn’t even because of the rain – rain usually helped her falling asleep, but not this time. She couldn’t even make her eyes close, she was just looking outside, watching raindrops falling down and heavy clouds passing by the sky, watching trees bending in the wind.

   Suddenly, she noticed a flash of muffled light with a corner of her eye. It was coming from the corridor, but it didn’t make her glance over to find out what it was, even though the light was shining for the next three minutes then. She started to wonder who turned the light on and from where it was coming, however, she kept still, watching the clouds above and trying to forget about the light.

   After the next ten minutes, Pearl finally made herself turn her head towards the source of that light because she couldn’t make it anymore. It wasn’t disturbing her at all, she was just curious and she wanted to find out what was happening.

   Slowly, she sat up and turned her head towards the source. She noticed a strip of light coming from below the door of the middle quest room in the hall. She tilted her head to a side and scanned the door for a moment. Soon, she realized that this door was actually Lapis’, and it made her wonder even more why she turned the light on this late.

   ‘ _What’s… going on?_ _’_ She furrowed her brows and studied the door for one more minute. She was thinking about doing a little investigation, but the thought that she'd get to the door and the light turns off once she gets there was making her think twice before acting.

   In the end, she gave up and after two more minutes of staring she decided to go check what was going on in the room. She swung her bare feet from the bed and with a slight help of her hands she made herself stand up by pushing herself away from the mattress. Then, breathing softly, she crossed the half of the living room and appeared in the corridor. She was stepping onto her tiptoes, trying to be as silent as a mouse, slipping her hand across the wall.

   Finally, she got to the door and let out a quiet sign, feeling as if she was a thief. Gingerly, she lifted her hand and took a breath, waiting for the perfect moment. Then she knocked several times and held her breath, waiting for a response.

   For a while, there was nothing but silence and quiet snoring from the next door, but soon Pearl heard a quiet voice from the right room.

   “Yeah?”

   Pearl winced slightly; surprised that she actually got any response. She then lifted her hand once again and turned the round door handle around, ready to enter the room.

   She poked her head inside cautiously and for her surprise she found Lapis sitting cross-legged on her bed with hands settled in her lap. There was a table lamp standing on a nightstand causing the muffled light.

   “Pearl.” She straightened, staring up at her. Later, she noticed a huge smile forming on Pearl’s lips. It made her smile, too.

   “Hey.” The tall girl said; voice sweet. She bit her lip. At that moment, she became really grateful for her good intuition and that she actually found Lapis in the room. “… May I come in?”

   “Umm…” Lapis cleared her throat, a surprised expression on. She was wondering why Pearl wasn’t sleeping yet, though she was very happy she wasn’t. She was so glad to see her. “Sure, come in.” She gestured.

   Pearl smiled to herself and slowly slipped inside the room. She closed the door with a quiet click and then turned to Lapis, leaning her back against the door, arms crossed behind her back.

   Lapis froze immediately as she came face to face with her. She then had a lot to do with herself not to make her heart explode. She just managed sitting on her bed, unable to move.

   This was the first time she saw Pearl wearing such skin-tight undershirt; it was precisely fitting her slim body, pointing out every curve and bone. Right then, Lapis realized how skinny Pearl actually was. She was very slim and tall, she had beautiful long legs, thin arms and neck, short hair hemming her jaw with its ends slightly curled up, sparkling turquoise eyes and the most enchanting smile Lapis’ ever seen. She already knew all of that, but sometimes she was wondering if that was a reality or just her imagination. But could her mind even create such beauty?

   Lapis’ vocabulary then entirely ran out of words. Her cheeks flushed red, breathing suddenly became so difficult to her and the familiar tickling in her stomach was uncontrollably growing. Was all of this caused by all the alcohol she drunk? Or was Pearl simply that charming?

   “I…” Lapis let out mindlessly. She had to shake her head and try to make herself speak normally, although she was failing so badly just in trying to stop staring at Pearl the way she was. “… I thought you were asleep.” She finally spoke.

   “Well.” Pearl bit back a smile, noticing Lapis’ suspicious behavior. “I thought the same about you… but I noticed a light coming from your room.”

   “Oh.” Lapis tittered nervously and scratched her nape, giving Pearl a regretful look. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

   “You did not.” Pearl said. She pressed her hands together behind her back and stretched them, intertwining fingers. “Is… everything okay?”

   Lapis sighed, her gaze fixed on the sheets this time. “Yeah… just can’t sleep.”

   “How so?” Pearl asked a bit worried.

   The girl just shrugged at that, but later she gave Pearl a big beam. Lapis was really glad for Pearl being there with her for some reason. And Pearl was glad, too.

   Pearl blushed at that gorgeous smile and said nothing then, just looked aside shyly and bit her lip.

   They both listened to the rain for a while, remaining still in their positions and enjoying each other’s presence for a good minute or so.

   Lapis had to grin at the look at Pearl; how she was innocently standing on the other side of the room and leaning against the door with cheeks lightly pink. “Are you gonna stand there like that all night?” Lapis chuckled.

   But instead of a response, Pearl blushed yet more. She looked at Lapis briefly, but soon it caused her looking aside. She was trying to avoid looking at one specific spot; namely at Lapis’ chest which was partly exposed because of her slightly unbuttoned shirt – though everything important was hidden.

   Lapis giggled once more at how shy Pearl seemed. She then patted the spot next to her and addressed Pearl once more. “Come here.” She asked with a smile.

   Pearl couldn’t refuse to this desire. She wanted to go. She actually  _really_  wanted to go so she swung her body away from the door smoothly and unhurriedly she crossed the room, walking to the side of the bed where Lapis was sitting

   The blue-haired girl adapted to her by shifting herself to the edge of the mattress and hanging down her legs, touching the floor with her feet, but only with her tiptoes because the bed was quite high for her.

   Pearl stood in front of her and fixed her eyes on Lapis’; those deep, dark eyes which were gazing back at her softly, blinking slowly and scanning Pearl’s face little by little.

   They could hear the rain again; its quiet drumming against the window glass behind the curtains and the wind singing outside silently. They listened to it while watching each other, scanning each other’s eyes and lips, brows and cheeks, noses and hair.

   Pearl was standing so close to the bed, but so far at the same time, Lapis thought. Suddenly, she longed for Pearl being closer, she needed to feel her. Lapis felt a need to make sure that Pearl was actually there with her. So gingerly, she shifted herself yet more and sat onto the very edge of the bed so she could reach the girl in front of her. Then, she cautiously stretched her hands towards Pearl and asked her gently to come closer, giving her a tender look and sweet smile.

   Without any hesitation Pearl complied and with a warm grin on her lips she made a small step towards Lapis, then another and another until Lapis’ tanned arms surrounded her waist entirely, standing between Lapis’ thighs. She then fondly placed her hands onto Lapis’ forearms, tenderly, she slid them up along her arms to the top of her shoulders and went into an affectionate hug.

   Lapis hugged her back lovingly. She laid her head to the center of Pearl’s flat chest and closed her eyes, resting there, perceiving and absorbing her warmth. She could feel Pearl’s heart beat, her deep breath. Her abdomen felt hot against Lapis’ chest while mutually pressing against one another delicately. Lapis snuggled to her, keeping her eyes closed and Pearl close to herself. She purred contentedly and nuzzled yet more to Pearl, making her squeeze firmer, but soft enough not to make Pearl feel uncomfortable.

   Pearl breathed out happily and while hugging Lapis around her head, she started to pet her hair and toy with it, spilling one blue hair lock around her finger, massaging and scratching her head with fine amount of pressure in random motions.

   This process of caressing, later with a slight hint of deliberate tease, soon made Lapis groan; melting under the delightful pressure of Pearl’s fingers. Lapis buried her face into the skinny girl’s chest and murmured something in there, her cheeks were getting warm.

   Though Pearl couldn’t understand her any single word and so it made her chuckle. While Pearl was chuckling, Lapis groaned frantically into her chest again and did it once more as those touches intensified.

   “Peeearl…” She moaned in there, now feeling weak and defeated as Pearl continued scratching her so fondly. Lapis found out that her will was very low when it came to toying with her hair and she became tired of losing against Pearl in these battles. She knew she could win against Pearl so she decided to surmount Pearl’s greatest weapon now, although she found it extremely hard this time.

   She overcame the feeling of pleasure by a determined lift of her head and then, in an unguarded moment, she bit Pearl into her breast which instantly caused Pearl a loud squeak. For a moment, Pearl wondered if she hasn’t woken up everyone around because of that.

   “Lapis!” She gasped, heart bouncing wildly, eyes widened in horrify. She had to rub on that bitten spot for a while to get rid of the pain.

   “Gotcha.” Lapis sniggered, a teasing face on.

   Pearl shook her head in disbelief, but accepted this challenge. “Don’t you dare biting me!” She threatened her playfully and with her hands she pushed Lapis away from herself; down onto the mattress. Then, she turned on her heels and pretended she was leaving just to catch Lapis' attention.

   Of course it alarmed Lapis as she was lying on the bed and watching Pearl going away with a quiet chuckling so Lapis flung out of the mattress and reached out for Pearl, grabbing her by her wrist before she was out of reach, tugging her back to herself and clasping her in her arms. “Well, well... where do you think you’re going, darling?” She asked in a deep tempting tone. Then, after Pearl's several vain attempts to escape from her, Lapis allowed herself to taunt at her and carefully she nuzzled Pearl’s slender neck, placing one affectionate, long kiss there, followed by several tiny ones right after.

   “Mmhm, Lappy…” Pearl blushed intensely. Goosebumps flooded her as Lapis managed to touch the most sensitive spot on her neck. Grasped tightly in Lapis’ strong and loving arms, she couldn’t move a muscle. Just trying to escape was hopeless for her, and after a moment of urgent trying, Pearl gave up and admitted to herself that she was absolutely helpless. And as she had nothing possible to do, she let herself be kissed; it felt really pleasant after all.

   Lapis kept slipping her lips along her long neck, slowly, fondly, from top to bottom and then back up again, pecking inch by inch, kissing her neck deeply with passion, biting and sucking it, but cautiously, lightly enough not to make it hurt.

   Pearl’s head was tilted to a side, but then those cute nuzzles that Lapis doing every so often were making Pearl tilt her head towards Lapis rather than away from her. “Lapis…” She groaned, still unable to move, partly paralyzed by Lapis’ lips which were keen but fond at the same time, caressing her, loving her, just as her fingers that were dancing on Pearl's back, scratching her and stroking. “Lapis-I… I should… maybe I should be going… it’s too late.” She tried, at least to get her attention so she could escape from her grip, but instead of an approval, Lapis murmured something into her reddened skin and sank deeper into it, continuing in kissing; the center of her neck, her throat, the pit just above her collarbone, the spot between her jaw and ear where a hot artery was pulsing fast underneath her skin. And while Lapis kept sucking and nibbling one specific spot then, the skin there started getting darker and darker very quickly, becoming numb and aching the longer Lapis kept sucking and biting there, but then she let that spot be and continued on the other side of Pearl’s neck which was yet untouched, now causing the tall girl shivers.

   “Lapis… it tickles.” She giggled as chills ran down her spine, but Lapis seemed to ignore her objection and continued in what she was doing with a teasing smile.

   Then, after a few minutes of this wonderful, sweet treatment, Lapis’ grip suddenly weakened and Pearl could finally move her hands again, so she took that opportunity and gingerly she took Lapis by her cheeks and lifted her head up from her neck, briefly interrupting her from her mission. She studied Lapis for a bit, but she couldn't withstand those beautiful lips desperately asking her to touch them. Pearl then sighed and pressed their lips together. She pressed lightly at them at first, but then she sank into the kiss as deep as she could. She kept kissing and sucking at those delicious lips, nuzzling them, provoking Lapis and gasping into her mouth, swallowing her breath and weak moans while Lapis' hands were scratching and stroking her back and sides.

   Soon, Lapis started provoking the girl by dodging her kisses deliberately. She was challenging her, daring her, but soon Pearl got enough of teasing and decided to fight back. As quick as a bolt of lightning she pounced on Lapis and bit her bottom lip sharply which immediately caused Lapis a wince along with squeak.

   “Ouch! Hey!” She hissed, finding Pearl smirking playfully at her. Lapis frowned and grinned evilly back at her. Lapis couldn’t just let her win like that; namely she already had a plan.

   She lifted one of her hands and then with a fast swing of it she slapped Pearl’s butt. The caused bang echoed in the room yet for several seconds later.

   “Ouch! Lapis, what the?!” She gasped aloud, still trying to be as less loud as possible. Now Pearl was feeling not only the bite on her breast, but also the hot print of Lapis’ hand on her left buttock. She then rubbed on that spot to make the pain less intensive with a silent painful hiss under her breath. “Hey, I’m gonna… oh, just you wait, you’re gonna pay for that! You’re so going to regret it!” Pearl threatened and ran right after Lapis who was now laughing and trying to escape from the certain upcoming punishment. Unfortunately for Lapis, she didn’t manage to run too far when Pearl caught her.

   She grabbed Lapis by her wrist firmly, turned her towards herself and dropped them both down onto the bed, pinning Lapis’ hands to the mattress, kneeling spread-legged above her. Now Pearl was the one who had a plan. She was also counting with an obligation to be quiet, but she quite doubted they'd manage to keep up with it; well, if Lapis could.

   The tall girl didn’t even let Lapis catch her breath and immediately she leaned over to her, towards her neck, and started tickling her by fast sniffing all across it, over her chest and belly.

   Instantly, Lapis reacted at that with a high gasp, eyes wide in surprise. “Pearl, no! No, no! Stop!” She pleaded, laughing while Pearl kept tickling her with her nose and sniffing wildly across her skin. It tickled so damn bad and Lapis knew that she must be quiet, although it was extremely hard for her. “No! Stop this! It tickles!  _I’m begging you, oh my god_!  _Stop it_!” She cried, trying her best to be as quiet as she could, bucking her legs in the air.

   Pearl finally stopped and leaned back a little, gulping for air, cheeks burning. “Why did you slap me, hm? I want answers.” She asked urgently, handcuffing Lapis to the bed confidently.

   “I don’t knooow…” Lapis groaned, failing in biting back a laugh. She could still feel the tickling all over her skin even though Pearl wasn’t doing anything at all.

   But Pearl frowned. She wasn’t satisfied with this kind of response. “So you don’t?  _Oookayy_   _theeen_ …” She outstretched those words mysteriously and Lapis could feel that this wasn’t a good sign for her. Pearl was leaning back down to her; and she started doing that terrible thing again!

   “N-no! Don’t! P-Pearl, please! Don’t do this! It tickles so muuuch, goddamnit!  _Stooop_!” She cried, but quiet enough not to make someone hear them. Tears rolled down her cheeks. This punishment was the worst kind of punishment she could be dragged into. It just tickled so badly!

   The girl on the top leaned back once more and grinned down at Lapis whose skin was already burning. “So…” Pearl cleared her throat significantly and fixed her hair, then grabbed Lapis' wrist again. “I’m asking you again.  _Why_  did you slap me?”

   “I told you I don’t know.” Lapis tried, panting, but later she started to have a feeling that this answer was wrong, too.

   “Oh?” Pearl’s brows rose. “Are you sure?”

   “Umm… yes?” She let out unsurely, a stupid grin on her face.

   Pearl hummed amusedly and with a shake of her head she exhaled. “Do you want to risk it?” She asked evilly, leaning back to Lapis slowly.

   Lapis’ eyes grew big in pure panic and immediately she shook her head. “N-no! No, just please, don’t do that thing again!  _I’m begging you_!” Lapis pleaded, laughing uncontrollably, heart beating fast.

   The skinny girl hummed one more time, leaning away from the girl below her this time. “Okay… so, once more, darling.” She said in a low voice, later turning it into a mysterious whisper. “ _Why_  did you slap me?”

   Lapis really didn’t have a chance in this. She'd better try to answer correctly or at least acceptably for Pearl. She let Pearl waiting for a moment, she was really cautious about the words she was about to use. So she decided to start with a compliment – she hoped for it to work out. “… You’ve got a nice butt… that’s all.” She chuckled, trying to sound confident.

   Though Pearl frowned yet again, scanning Lapis’ expression with a distrustful look. “… Is it?” One of her light eyebrows rose.

   Pearl seemed dangerous to Lapis at that moment, it was like if she had a control all over her. The tone of her voice and her suspicious look were making Lapis quite nervous, though she loved when Pearl was behaving this way.

   She then had to give up. She couldn’t win this –  _as usual._

   Lapis exhaled, defeated. “Alright, alright, I just… I just wanted a little bit more of your attention… that's it.” She admitted and her breath finally started slowing down.

   “Hmm…” Pearl rubbed her chin, then she made herself sit down onto Lapis' pelvis, causing herself a slight wince at the contact of the specific part of her body with the girl under her. Briefly, her cheeks got red, but she managed to pay her full attention to Lapis once again. And now as Pearl was finally comfortably sitting, Lapis’ hands were free, though Lapis let them lying on each side of her head just like Pearl left them.

   Pearl thought for a while before she responded, watching Lapis as she was calming down after all the torment. “And…” Pearl started, voice low once again. She leaned towards Lapis, but this time she let her hands lie free; she leaned against her elbows on each side of Lapis’ head. “Is  _this_  kind of attention satisfying?”

   The girl below flushed instantly as Pearl’s breath brushed her face. She felt like a prisoner surrounded from all sides, but she was starting to get used to this treatment. She wanted to know and experience more of this Pearl _._

   Lapis grinned widely at the girl above her and fortunately she was close enough to reach her. “Very.” She said and placed one gentle kiss onto her thin lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl couldn't make herself fall asleep  
> • Pearl was cuddling with Lapis in her room
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Saturday early morning)
> 
>  **PS:** I was so looking forward to this chapter and I really enjoyed writting it. :D :3 Guys, I had a break from school for one week so I was writting like a crazy, but I guess this craziness is over and now it's time to study for finals. So hope I'll see you soon! Thank you so much for your support, likes and comments! Have a nice day! ♥ ^^


	25. Love Evidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive/mature content

   Pearl blushed at the gentle press of Lapis’ lips and watched the girl as she laid her head back down onto the bed.

   There was something familiar forming inside Pearl’s stomach. It was the tickling again; a heat which was Lapis causing, but this time there was something more, and while she was pressing her whole torso against Lapis’, the feeling was growing faster and stronger every second. Pearl perceived the girl’s breath, her chest raising and lowering right underneath her own. She felt her heart beating along with hers; rhythmically, in the same pace, full of positive and loving energy radiating from it. She watched Lapis’ dark eyes that were closely scanning Pearl’s and studying her face little by little.

   Pearl’s stomach felt like it turned upside down as she started perceiving Lapis’ abs intensively. She was pressing lightly against them with her own, feeling their every curve, their warmth. Pearl closed her eyes then and sighed, and as she expected, the feeling grew stronger. It felt like if the contact between them suddenly became more intense, though their bodies remained still.

   While Pearl was getting used to this contact and slightly blushing at it, Lapis slowly moved her hands and softly she placed them onto Pearl’s slim waist, petting her with her thumbs fondly. She watched Pearl and her reactions; her eyes closed, her breath froze in her lungs for a moment. Lapis then continued upper along Pearl’s sides with her hands, gingerly, lovingly, and rested them on her shoulder blades, making Pearl shiver. Then, Lapis softly pulled Pearl closer to herself and hugged her. Pearl sighed happily and her hands then surrounded the top of Lapis’ head. She hid her face in the crook of her neck and nuzzled it, enjoying the gentle squeeze of Lapis’ arms around her.

   There was a moment when Pearl felt something cold press against her cheek while she was nuzzling Lapis. Soon, she found out it was her necklace that cooled her skin. It was such a pleasing feeling that Lapis was wearing the pearl she gave her. She really appreciated it.

   Lapis exhaled contentedly and snuggled to Pearl, tugging her closer. One of her hands shifted upper her back; up to her neck. She moved her short peach hair aside with her fingers and placed one sweet kiss onto the exposed spot right after, scratching Pearl tenderly along her back with her other hand, being gentle and slow.

   Pearl hummed merrily into her neck and nuzzled it yet more, placing there a kiss, too; then one more and yet one more, caressing her skin, brushing it with her smooth lips. Soon, her fingers found their way into Lapis’ hair again, scratching and massaging her ever so fondly.

   Lapis’ movements started getting slower as Pearl continued stroking her, her muscles weakened. She loved this feeling so much. She loved Pearl touching her like that above all. But she was still determined to win against her in this. Deep down Lapis knew she could.

   Then, with one of her arms she surrounded Pearl’s waist and with the other one she helped herself rise from the mattress and turned Pearl over, laying her down onto her back delicately.

   Lapis’ body was a bit heavier than Pearl’s and so her weight made Pearl huff. She also gasped at the realization that Lapis was kneeling between her legs and pressing against the spot on the very bottom of her pelvis. It made her blush like never before and left her totally breathless.

   Lapis pulled out her arm from below Pearl’s back cautiously and then placed both of her arms onto each side of Pearl’s chest, surrounding her with them and tugging her closer. “Now I got you, sweetie.” She whispered with a sweet smile on her lips.

   The pressure of her body was suddenly more intensive, her muscles brushing Pearl’s belly. Pearl perceived Lapis’ breasts pushing lightly into her lower chest, making her distracted because of this sudden situation. Pearl became as focused on the burning sensations in her chest and belly as she forgot to pay her attention to Lapis for a while. Then, Lapis’ gentle kisses placed onto her neck were the ones which brought Pearl back to present.

   Pearl didn’t know what to do. She felt nervous, she felt shy and embarrassed. What if someone comes in and sees them? What would they do? What would Pearl do?

   Suddenly, she appeared far from the state in which she was before. Now she felt like she was the _prey_ , but it never felt unpleasant, though quite the contrary.

   She felt Lapis’ hands slipping under her back then, tugging her towards her, she perceived Lapis nuzzling her neck and placing soft pecks there accompanied with quiet smacking.

   Lapis became busy with kissing; her chin, her jaw, ear, her neck, her throat and collarbones, leaving Pearl breathless and with heart pounding wildly as her kisses became passionate and hungry for her. She started biting Pearl, nibbling curves of her bones, sucking Pearl’s skin and kissing her wherever Lapis considered as appropriate.

   There were quiet whines escaping Pearl’s mouth; she couldn’t even control them because of the way Lapis kept caressing her, stroking and loving her with her hands and lips, suddenly making Pearl breathe again, but only for a brief moment before she started nuzzling and kissing Pearl's chest because then her breath stuck in her lungs once again. Lapis then lifted her head for a while and noticed the mark of teeth on the upper side of her breast where she bit Pearl before. It made her smile to herself, but later on she continued in her previous task.

   Pearl could feel that something was different this time. It was like all of these touches and sensations, all these feelings were thousand times more intense than they usually were. The tickling in her stomach was uncontrollably growing stronger, just as her heart beat was getting faster every time a kiss landed on her body.

   Lapis pecked Pearl’s chin, then slid down her pale skin and kissed the center of her neck, continuing down with lightly parted lips and meeting Pearl’s fragile throat, placing more kisses there and onto her collarbones. Lapis even helped herself shift Pearl's sleeve off her shoulder so the collarbone was entirely exposed. She tasted it, scanned its surface with her mouth, nibbling and pecking it softly. Her mouth then continued lower and soon she reached the hem of Pearl’s undershirt in the center of her chest, but it didn’t stop Lapis from going further. Her fingers were slipping along Pearl’s sides and abdomen, massaging and petting her tenderly, making tiny circles on her body with her fingertips; light as a feather. Lapis closed her eyes and let those kisses become more eager and affectionate, causing Pearl gasp at the pressure of her mouth against her shivering body. Lapis continued down slowly, along the center of Pearl’s ribcage, kissing her all the way down, then buried her face into the area just between her chest and abdomen, but Pearl’s belly instantly lowered at that contact, causing her heart jolt.

   Lapis could notice Pearl’s reactions at these touches and it was only spurring her to go on so she let her hands slide down Pearl’s sides and then slipped the tips of her fingers under her shirt, now continuing upper and exposing her stomach carefully and slowly. With that she was able to kiss Pearl's hot bare skin. Lapis' body was aching for touching it, for tasting it. This desire was strong; too strong that it made Lapis lower her head and kiss the girl's abdomen deeply, and the slow she was slipping her fingers up along her belly, exposing it and placing tender kisses onto it, the more often she could hear Pearl's gasps escaping her mouth – it was such a pleasing noise to Lapis and it was only making her more and more hungry for Pearl as those gasps were becoming regular.

   Lapis then decided to go back up to kiss Pearl again; this time onto her lips, sinking deep into the kiss while her hands were still shifting upper her abdomen.

   Pearl groaned into her mouth and her eyes opened wide at Lapis’ uncontrollable, up-slipping hands. “Lapis.” She murmured, trying to get her attention, but Lapis seemed to ignore her and continued in kissing and biting her playfully. Pearl’s stomach twisted, her cheeks were already burning. Those hands were still gingerly going up and Pearl’s heart started to beat in alarm as they reached the bottom part of her chest, slightly touching her breasts and still going upper. “Lapis? Lapis?!” Pearl panicked, but finally made Lapis stop.

   Pearl perceived massive shivers inside her chest and abdomen, but what was the most disturbing thing to her at that moment was the fact that she could feel her nipples rise because of those touches, and this caused Pearl crossing arms on her chest immediately, getting entirely red and hoping that Lapis hasn't noticed anything. She wondered what would happen if Lapis touched her breasts entirely. What would it feel like? How would  _she_  feel? How would Lapis feel?

   “What is it, honey?” Lapis asked and pulled back slightly to see Pearl’s face.

   It took her a moment to find courage to speak. The thought that Lapis could see her nipples straightening so suddenly and that it could be easily noticed because of Pearl’s skin-tight undershirt was making Pearl feel a bit awkward and ashamed. “I-I’m, um…” She stuttered, getting yet redder, trying to find words. “I-I’m sorry, I just…” She pulled her hair behind her ear, quickly enough put her arm back soon. “… I’ve never done this before.” She looked to a side shyly, biting her lip.

   Lapis stayed still for a while, but then giggled. “What exactly?”

   Pearl managed to look back at her, though still red. “I… I’ve never been…  _touching_  like… this. And I-I… all that kissing, I just…” She stuttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.

   “Oh.” Lapis sighed, wondering what to say. She was quite surprised by that. “… Should I stop then?”

   “N-no, I just… I didn’t mean… I… I just wasn’t sure about how far you were about to go.” She said, grinning awkwardly. "I don't even know if… if this is the right time and place for… you know."

   Lapis tried to bite back a chuckle, but she failed. The fact, that Pearl was still untouched and innocent,kind of amused her, but astonished her as well. She also knew that Pearl was fragile and careful in these kinds of things so Lapis had to be especially cautious about every act she wanted to do to avoid any unwanted consequences, and of course she had to respect Pearl's privacy. “So…” Lapis smiled curiously. “What now?”

   Pearl shrugged slowly, biting her lips from the inside. Suddenly, she started missing those touches as Lapis wasn’t doing anything but watching her. Pearl wanted her to touch her again, even though she was a bit scared and nervous, but nothing so far was doing her feel as good as Lapis and her company. Her closeness was simply so satisfying, Pearl felt safe and loved every time, perceiving her breath, her skin, seeing Lapis looking back at her and smiling. It was all just so priceless.

   Lapis slid Pearl down with her eyes and then back up. She chuckled again at Pearl’s bashful expression and sighed softly. “I love you.” She said with a warm beam.

   Pearl’s eyelids fluttered, she remained still for a few seconds, but then she grinned back at her and looked aside briefly, trying her best to get rid of the redness spreading across her cheeks. She noticed Lapis moving her hand towards her and placing it onto her cheek, making Pearl turn her head and look back at her. They went into silence again. They were looking at each other, blinking slowly, sharing the same air with one another for a while, lying silently body-to-body without speaking.

   After the trembles inside Pearl’s chest weakened, Pearl finally made herself lift her arms gingerly, moving them towards Lapis. She then hugged the girl around her neck and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head.

   Lapis hummed happily and hugged Pearl around her chest, nuzzling her, later kissing her neck and throat easily. Maybe it was better not to go all the way yet. Perhaps it was still too soon for Pearl, Lapis thought, and decided to save some things for some other day.

   “Lappy?” She addressed her and laid her head down into pillows, resting for a while.

   “Yes?” She looked up and crawled a bit upper to face her.

   Pearl sighed with a smile and closed her eyes, petting Lapis’ hair. “It’s late.”

   “So what?” Lapis snorted. “Nothing can stop me from loving you… not even the time.” She said resolutely and then snuggled to Pearl again, purring into her neck.

   The taller girl smiled widely at that and hugged Lapis firmer. “Yeah, but…” She started, but her smile almost vanished then. “I should be going.”

   Lapis opened her eyes at that, lifting her head from the girl below her once again. “What? Why?” She shook her head, making Pearl open her eyes and look at her, but Pearl didn’t say anything at that, just sighed silently.

   “Pearl, stay.” Lapis pleaded, expression sorrowful. “Stay here with me tonight. Please.”

   It made Pearl think rather twice before she answered. She couldn’t refuse to that face, to those sad, pleading eyes. But there were other things making her worried. What if others see her here? What would they think? What would they say?

   “Honey, pleeease.” Lapis groaned. She then sank her face into Pearl’s chest and pulled her closer to herself with her arms. “I won’t let you go.” She murmured in there.

   At that moment, Pearl gave up trying. She laughed softly to herself. “Okay, but promise me you won’t snore.”

   “What? I don’t do that.” Lapis protested, chuckling, although she knew she does.

   “Oh, yes you do, sweetie.” Pearl objected and gave Lapis one sweet kiss into her hair.

   Lapis exhaled, defeated, but lifted her head and gave Pearl a kiss back. “Okay, okay. I’ll try my best.”

   Pearl giggled and kissed Lapis once more, a bit deeper this time. The blue-haired girl sank into the kiss and returned it right after, but her plan to keep kissing for the next ten minutes failed because Pearl parted their lips with a quiet smack.

   “I love you.” She whispered into Lapis’ mouth and brushed the tip of her nose with her own, later giving it a smooch.

   “I love you, too, Pearl.” Lapis murmured softly and stroked Pearl’s smooth cheek with the back of her fingers, making her close her eyes and purr happily. “Good night.”

   “Good night, Lapis.” She whispered, and right after Lapis turned off the light, Pearl peacefully fell asleep.

<•••>

   Pearl woke up in the morning, better said in the very late morning, with light headache, even though she didn’t drink any alcohol during yesterday – well, compared with Amethyst who was wondering what were these tiny white dots in the night sky.

   She hummed tiredly. She stretched her hands and after making a contact with whatever it was, she hugged it tightly, snuggling up to it, convinced it was Lapis’ arm. But later on, after opening her eyes wearily, she realized that she was hugging a pillow. Her brows furrowed and then Pearl leaned back onto her elbows, glancing round the room. It was dark in there because the curtains were still shut, although the digital clock standing on the nightstand read 10 AM and the sun was already shining in the sky. And for Pearl’s surprise, Lapis was nowhere to see.

   A sorrowful sigh escaped her lips. Later, she dropped herself back into pillows with a huff, watching the ceiling for a bit. For a moment, it felt like it was getting heavier and descending down right onto her as she kept staring at it, but after she shook her head the ceiling was right on its place again.

   She could hear muffled noises coming from the kitchen. She wondered if one of them was Lapis’.

   Pearl sighed once more and closed her eyes for a minute or so. She wished she could wake up next to Lapis – at least once.

   Pearl wanted to find out where Lapis was and this desire soon made her get up from the bed. She rolled up the curtains, then warm sunrays welcomed her to a new day. There were birds chirping outside and the sky was absolutely cloudless, there was morning dew on the grass, too. Pearl crossed the room unhurriedly and grabbed the door handle, taking a look around the room for the last time. It immediately reminded her of the last night, better said this very early morning, when they were merrily romping together, kissing and cuddling while everyone was asleep – well, hopefully everyone was.

   The skinny girl had to smile to herself with eyes fixed to nowhere while remembering what was happening just a few hours ago without anybody knowing. She then turned the round handle and left the room, closing the door with a quiet click and heading through the corridor to the kitchen. The floor was cool against her bare feet, but Pearl didn’t mind since she was still warmed up from those gorgeous plump duvets.

   “Maaan, my head hurts like hell.” She heard Amethyst groan just before she entered the kitchen through a round doorframe, yet after she did, no one has noticed her so far.

   “I told you not to drink that much.” The tall dark-skinned woman said. She opened a cupboard and pulled out two small ceramic cups, then placed them onto kitchen unit and put the kettle on.

   “It’s beer, Garnet! Who would refuse drinking beer?” Amethyst gestured, but once she swung her hands and body backwards, she hit her head against the cupboard above her. “Ouch! God damn it.” She hissed, rubbing her aching crown.

   Pearl sighed through her nose with a grin and went further into the kitchen, but after she entered it, she realized that Lapis wasn't there either. She probably went back to the stable to take care of horses, Pearl thought. Surely, there was a lot to do, just as every day. She sighed.

   Pearl placed her hand onto the left side of her neck and stretched it a little – it felt quite stiff after the sleep. “Hey there.” She greeted, still feeling a bit sleepy. She slept just for six hours today, but there was this problem; when Pearl doesn’t get her eight-hours long sleep, she can be quite sullen, and she honestly didn't like this kind of state. But she spent the night with Lapis, it was certainly worth it this time.

   “Good morning.” Garnet greeted back, turning to her briefly. “Would you like to have tea with us?” She asked, but she didn’t even wait for Pearl’s response and immediately pulled out another cup.

   “Thanks, Garnet.” She blushed slightly and rubbed her neck once more, tilting her head to a side to stretch her neck again.

   There was silence for a while. Garnet was preparing tea and Amethyst was just silently sitting on the kitchen unit. It was unusual for Amethyst to be silent, perhaps her head was hurting really bad today – no wonder when she drunk more than five bottles that night.

   She was studying Amethyst’s face, her heavy eyelids and those big, violet circles under her eyes – she looked really terrible. Then, she noticed that Amethyst was staring at her, too. Her eyes were suddenly so curious and fixed straight onto Pearl, expression suspicious and focused.

   “Dude…” The small girl let out, still staring at the same spot – somewhere just below Pearl’s head, yet she couldn’t specify where exactly.

   Pearl shook her head in confusion, her hand then fell down after stretching her neck for the last time. “What?”

   “You’ve got like something on your…” She pointed, but froze instantly, a huge grin spread across her face, eyes wide. “Oh man, wait… wait, is that?!” She jumped down from the unit vigorously and headed straight to Pearl. It seemed like Amethyst suddenly absorbed an extreme wave of energy from somewhere.

   “What is what?” Pearl made a step back. She felt really confused for a moment. She wondered if all the alcohol that Amethyst digested has already vanished or if some still remained in her.

   “You’ve got a hickey on your neck!” She pointed at it excitedly, getting closer and closer to Pearl. It even made Garnet turn to them.

   “What?!” Pearl gasped in a slight panic. Later on, she remembered the early morning when she was with Lapis in her room; as she was holding Pearl, squeezing her tightly and kissing her neck, and when Pearl was wondering what Lapis was doing there for that long – but now she realized, and she didn’t want to believe it. How could she afford it – her, the innocent and fragile being? “No! I-I don’t!” She objected, but despite it she covered that spot, at which her friend was staring, with her hand in case it was true. Her cheeks immediately turned deep red.

   “Heyeyey, show it to me!” Amethyst urged, grinning widely.

   “Amethyst, there’s nothing to see!” Pearl stepped back again, just to avoid Amethyst and her sneaky hands which were trying to expose Pearl’s neck.

   “Hey, P, come over here!” Amethyst laughed and grabbed Pearl by her wrist.

   But Pearl was too tired and annoyed to fight against her so she let Amethyst remove her hand from the wide bloody blot on her skin, making the girl gasp highly.

   “Wooow,  _whaaat theee heeell?_ ” Amethyst’s jaw dropped and it only made Pearl yet more nervous as she was staring at that bruise like that. “Is that… Lapis’?”

   “No, it’s not!” Pearl protested, trying to lean away from Amethyst as far as she could because Pearl could already feel Amethyst’s breath ghosting upon her skin from that closeness. She also noticed Garnet turning to them from the cups again, but before she could come and investigate Pearl’s neck, too, the kettle started hissing and she had to turn back to it.

   “Oh, really?” Amethyst asked, a hint of irony in the tone of her voice. “Dude, you couldn’t make it yourself. Besides, you didn’t have it last night…” She smirked at her, knowing that Pearl couldn’t cover it up even if she tried her best.

   Pearl rolled her eyes and let a defeated huff escape her mouth. She was angry, but she wasn’t angry with Amethyst. She was angry with Lapis this time. How couldn’t she just tell her about it? Now Pearl felt like a total fool. She didn’t have the slightest idea about it until now, and now she felt like she was betrayed by her own girlfriend. “… It’s… Lapis’.” She growled, frowning a bit, arms crossed on her chest.

   “Wohoho, P! You dirty girl!” The girl snickered and nudged Pearl’s shoulder carefully, but soon she continued studying her hickey again, rubbing her chin. “Man, that’s some quality.”

   Pearl was really mad, but on the other hand she was glad for that bruise, too. She had a new experience and she was no longer feeling as insular as before. Now she felt like a real adult – a rebel. “Amethyst…” She sighed, rolling her eyes once again.

   “No, really! I mean, look at that.” She gestured, and with that she attracted Garnet who finally got to them, holding three cups in her hands while Amethyst was scanning over the blot on Pearl’s skin. “That size, that color, that design. It’s–” She gushed over it, but was interrupted by the tall skinny girl.

   “–Okay, that’s enough.” She lifted her hands, palms turned to her smaller friend as if she wanted to stop her from her exploring, but then Amethyst gasped again unexpectedly.

   “Oh my! You’ve got another one on the other side, too? Damn, Pearl! I thought that  _you_  were the innocent one.” She laughed, forcing Pearl to flush the most she could, eyes big as dinner plates. “Our little kitten turned out to be a wild tigress, huh?”

   Instantly, Pearl surrounded her whole neck with her hands. This was totally embarrassing; totally! She couldn’t feel more awkward right now. “No, no, no! This is wrong, this is all wrong!” She panicked, panting, shaking her head in disbelief, fingers wrapped around her neck.

   “Pearl, calm down.” Garnet soothed her and put the cups down onto the table. She stood in front of Pearl and squeezed her shoulders gently. "Don't panic, dear, it's fine. You don't have to be ashamed of it." The woman smiled.

   “I-I don’t know… how-how could I… how could this…” She was urgently searching for words. This felt like a nightmare – two hickeys at once? How could that happen to her? She must have been dreaming.

   Pearl ran out of air, blinking wildly and convincing herself that this was just a dream, but vainly. She realized that this was a new start – a whole new adult world with great consequences from which she couldn’t escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl stayed with Lapis in her room over night  
> • Amethyst discovered two hickeys on Pearl's neck
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Saturday morning)


	26. An Unexpected Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Guys, we reached over 1.800 views on this fanfiction! You can't even imagine how happy I am! Only thanks to you and your kind support I keep writing new chapters! Thank you so, so, so much! Soon, my finals will be over and then I'll be ready to post more and more new chapters. Yet once again thank you so much! Your support means a lot to me! ♥ ♥ ♥ You are the main creators of the story! ;) :3 See you very soon, love you! ^w^

   Lapis has been in the stable for three hours now. She didn’t sleep much, yet it was quite visible in her eyes, but on the other hand she was grinning all the time while sweeping the floor from straw and cleaning stalls. She was thinking about that wonderful night since she got into the stable this morning with Peridot, smiling foolishly with mind full of Pearl and her beautiful body which she was touching and kissing with alcohol slightly controlling her mind back then.

   Luckily, Peridot wasn’t much interested in asking Lapis how the night was going. She had a lot to do with herself while dealing with the alcohol that was still occupying her guts and all the impressions of new surroundings and people she met on the party. Compared to Peridot’s casual talkativeness she was very quiet today, and on the other side Lapis was rather happy and full of energy, though she didn’t sleep even five hours.

   While sweeping, Lapis’ mind was slightly fogged with thoughts about Pearl; her eyes, her sweet, soft lips, her light perfume and her delicate fingers making trails in Lapis' short, blue hair. She was remembering those times when Pearl was smiling and giggling, blushing beautifully every time Lapis looked at her or kissed her. Now she started wondering if she managed not to wake Pearl up this morning when she was leaving. Lapis wished that sometimes there were no horses and stalls to take care of and that she could just lie in bed next to Pearl and watch her peacefully sleep and breathe inaudibly, at least for one day. It was making her heart heavy that she was always leaving Pearl alone without letting her know that Lapis was leaving, but she promised herself that one day she will stay in bed for a bit longer just to see Pearl waking up next to herself.

   Then Peridot interrupted her thoughts as she passed by her, carrying a box with brushes and combs and heading to her Haflinger’s stall.

   Lapis straightened and stopped sweeping, watching Peridot as quiet she was this morning. “Hey, Peridot, was that even you on that party?” Lapis asked playfully and then continued in sweeping the floor again.

   “What?” She turned around, standing just in front of Percy’s stall gate.

   “I mean… you were acting strange.” Lapis said, not looking at her. “Better said you weren’t acting at all… something happened?” Lapis asked once more, although she knew because of what, better said because of whom, was Peridot acting the way she did – that means _not-talking-that-much_ as she usually was. It was because of Amethyst who took the reins of being the main comedian that night for sure.

   “Pff, no.” Peridot waved it off, but the tone in her voice didn’t sound much convincing to Lapis. The small blonde then put the box down and with her full strength she opened the gate, using the weight of her whole body, she then took the box again and entered the stall. “Just new environment…”

   “Oh, really? Wasn’t that because of Amethyst?” Lapis pointed out with a teasing smile, but because of her merry mood she still couldn’t realize that Peridot wasn’t into talking at that moment.

   “No, it was not.” She said with a sigh, almost in whisper.

   The taller girl just shook her head and grinned to herself because she knew that what Peridot said wasn’t entirely true. She knew that Peridot was a good entertainer and that she was considered as one of the best in a comedy industry, but after showing her that she was not the only one ruling this branch, Peridot seemed to be surprised and hit by that fact. Lapis knew that her little friend didn’t like losing and it was always hard for Peridot to get along with a defeat. So Lapis rather decided to let her breathe and continued in her task until she saw someone entering the barn with a corner of her eye.

   It was Pearl; her sweet, beautiful being just formed a smile on Lapis’ lips as Pearl glanced around the building to find her. And she did.

   She then rushed towards Lapis through the corridor, steps long and arms stretched along her sides. Her expression was quite unreadable for Lapis, but that didn’t matter, Lapis was just so glad to see her lovely girlfriend again. So she leaned the broom against a stall wall, facing Pearl and watching as how quickly she was approaching her. Lapis also noticed a scarf wrapped around her neck, and for a moment she wondered what for, making herself stop and pout, thinking. But before she could answer herself, Pearl appeared right next to her with brows furrowed and lips curved down in anger.

   “Hey, princess.” Lapis said with a warm grin on her lips like if Pearl’s face was in its usual state, but instead of a welcoming response she got slapped across her face from her right away.

   The sound of the smack then echoed in the hall for three seconds, making Peridot turn her head towards them, eyes just as wide as Lapis’.

   “Wohow, holy crap.” Peridot managed to grin nervously and watched Lapis as she put her hand over her cheek instantly. “Well, I-uh… I guess I’m out of here.” The blonde proclaimed and with her lips formed into a tight line she closed the stall and carried the box with brushes back to the storage, leaving those two alone and wondering what was going on between them. Wasn’t Lapis dazed because of their together night just a while ago? What could possibly go wrong?

   Lapis hissed; her face twisted in pain as she rubbed her cheek. Tears appeared in corners of her eyes. She was confused and stunned by what Pearl did and she was hugely surprised that Pearl was actually capable of such a thing, too, leaving Lapis breathless.

   Lapis lifted her eyes, almost scared to ask for an explanation for this. She swallowed. “… What-what was that for?” She whined and eyed Pearl closely, appearing in a slight shock after that and afraid that there could come another slap from her for not knowing the answer.

   There were tears in Pearl eyes, too, but she no longer looked angry rather than sad and confused. She grabbed her scarf, she pushed it down sharply and exposed her neck so the wide, bloody blot struck Lapis’ eyes immediately. “What is this?!” Pearl cried.

   Lapis froze on the spot then, wondering how she could make a bruise that large. For a moment, she even wondered if that was even her work; she couldn’t even remember doing it! However, Lapis had to take into account that alcohol played a significant role in this, too. It must have been her, she thought, and later she finally remembered. “It’s a… a hickey.” She let out shakily, afraid of getting another painful smack in her face.

   “Why didn’t you tell me anything?” Pearl inquired, pushing her scarf back up, crossing her arms on her chest.

   “I… thought you knew about it.” Lapis let out quietly, feeling strange impulses running through her stomach.

   “How?!” Pearl called, almost crying. “ _How_  could I know? I told you I’ve never done these things before, didn't I?”

   Lapis’ deep feeling of guilt made her look aside very quickly, just to void Pearl’s sharp eyes. There was a lump in her throat and she couldn’t stop herself from biting her lips from the inside, irate with herself because of her mistake about which she was aware of now. She knew very well that Pearl said that and that she should rather ask for permission back then.

   A dead silence filled the room; even horses went quiet for a good minute. Lapis was confused, unable to neither move nor look into Pearl’s eyes again. Pearl was quiet, too, gazing at Lapis and scanning her regretful expression and red, swollen eyes.

   Pearl’s heart then stopped for a moment. It felt like something just broke inside her. She was no longer angry with Lapis, but now she was the one who felt guilty. She felt a lump in her throat, too, and she couldn’t believe what she’s just done to her. Now Pearl realized how much strength she actually used to scream at her, to hit her that hard, how all that anger inside fogged her mind and didn’t even let her stop it from letting it out this way. She started to feel horrible – about everything. This wasn’t her, and Pearl was for almost one hundred percent sure that this kind of acting was partly caused by her six hours long sleep.

   “Lapis…” She whispered, a worry in her voice. She frowned sorrowfully. Pearl wanted Lapis to look back at her. She wanted Lapis to know that what just happened… It wasn’t her, she didn’t mean it to do this way. Pearl was even surprised herself. “Lapis, I’m… I’m sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry.” She then let a tear fall down. She couldn’t help herself but hug Lapis instantly, squeezing her and pulling her close, waiting for Lapis to accept her arms after what she has done. “I’m so sorry… I…” She sniffed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Lapis… forgive me.”

   Lapis sighed softly and hid her face in Pearl’s scarf, nuzzling it and finally hugging Pearl back. Lapis could feel she was warm, she felt her arms around her, fingers scratching her back with a soothing pressure, her heart beating slowly and breath slowing down. Lapis could breathe again. But who was the one who felt guiltier now? “No… I’m the one who should apologize.”

   “Lapis…” Pearl started, but Lapis continued in her speech.

   “I should’ve told you.” Lapis lifted her head, but instead of Pearl’s eyes, she studied her lips which were just at her eye level. “I should be aware of my actions back then.”

   Pearl just shook her head slightly. She recognized that Lapis felt bad about it, though Pearl felt like she should be the one to blame as the situation changed.

   Pearl bit her lip and the only thing she could do was to take Lapis’ cheeks into her palms and peck her mouth lightly right after.

   The smaller girl lifted her eyes then, looking into Pearl’s turquoise ones. She studied them, little by little, wondering what to think, but the longer she was staring into her eyes, the faster her nerves and quilt were vanishing. She then smiled a little and it made Pearl smile herself. They put their foreheads together then, remaining still.

   Suddenly, the situation and their nerves eased. The room was still quiet. After a few moments of staring at one another and realizing how all of this was actually a bit silly, they both started giggling. This whole situation became just so ridiculous to them and all that happened before it as well. The atmosphere suddenly changed and both of them finally felt relaxed again, and on a top of that, nothing bad happened after all. Maybe just Pearl let herself be carried away a little. By the way, Pearl was actually quite glad for those hickeys, she was glad for this new experience. She was always shy to talk about adult stuff with her friends because she was the responsible one, the one who knew what she was doing and the one who wasn't getting drunk on parties and making out with strange people. Actually, Pearl felt really happy now, she felt like she finally won against herself, and she wanted to win again. After all those experiences with Lapis, she slowly started getting used to the true adult world.

   Lapis fell into her girlfriend’s arms once more and enjoyed the pressure of her hug, tugging her towards her chest, rocking them both softly. She could hear Pearl hum under her breath at that and she could also sense a grin forming on her thin, pale lips. “Honestly.” Lapis started, murmuring into Pearl’s shoulder. “I never thought I could make a hickey that large.”

   "Umm... well." The skinny girl bit her lip. "There was… not just one..." She said with her gaze fixed to nowhere, blushing.

   Lapis' eyes grew big right after in shock, her breath stuck in her throat. ' _Oh hell_...' She thought, standing frozen now, realizing that she probably drunk too much wine when she couldn't even remember doing the first one.

   But Pearl chuckled at that then. She found this whole situation comical after all.

   She closed her light eyes then, but now those hickeys weren’t the main thing stuck in her mind. She was still thinking about that slap. She regretted it – a lot. The worst thing about it was that she couldn’t take it back.

   The skinny girl pulled lightly away, her gaze stopped on Lapis’ afflicted cheek. Pearl exhaled after several seconds of staring at it. “… Did it hurt much?”

   Just as Pearl asked her that, it felt like the pain came back to Lapis for a while, like if it wanted to remind her of it. “… Just a bit, but don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” She said softly and started to ignore the pain again.

   But Pearl wasn’t convinced this response was right so she shook her head. “Of course I worry about it. I felt like I almost crashed your face.”

   Lapis chuckled at that. Just the idea of it seemed funny to her. Her freckled cheeks slightly darkened. “Nah… though I didn’t know you’ve got such strength.” Lapis admitted, the tone in her voice suddenly turned into a flirty one somehow.

   The taller girl’s cheeks reddened as well. This tone of Lapis’ voice made her body shiver from the inside, hair on the back side of her neck straightened. She chuckled nervously as Lapis’ gaze started swallowing her, making Pearl feel butterflies in her stomach and hands lightly shake. “Well, neither did I.” She let out timidly, looking elsewhere than where Lapis was. “And I-um… I’m sorry about that slap, though.”

   “Hey, it’s fine.” Lapis smiled fondly, assuring Pearl. “I deserved that… I promise I’ll ask you next time.”

   Pearl widened her eyes, surprised by the postscript. “N-next time? Are you planning on making me more hickeys?”

   Lapis snorted, smirk on her face. “Maybeee.” She said, rising one eyebrow, though the tone of that spoken word sounded rather like a question.

   “Oh.” Pearl breathed out a chuckle, a bit nervously. “Okay, just… Um… j-just go slow on me, I… I’m not used to these… things. Yet.”

   Lapis sighed through her nose calmly and lowered her eyelids, humming under her breath. “Sure.” She whispered. She then got back to Pearl and hugged her tighter. She laid her head down onto her shoulder and said nothing for a while, perceiving Pearl’s calm breath, warmth and her slender arms which surrounded her soon after. Lapis sighed softly. “… Pearl?”

   “Yeah?” Pearl reacted, nuzzling Lapis’ velvet-smooth hair with her mouth.

   “I… I’ve got a lot to do today. I gotta prepare myself for one, uh… show jumping competition.” She proclaimed, but a bit unhappily. “My coach is coming today, too… he’s got very little time recently and I can’t afford to skip this session, so… I won’t have too much time for you.”

   “It’s alright.” Pearl smiled, understanding. “At least I can stay with you until he comes. If you want me to, of course.”

   “Sure.” Lapis raised her head then, looking into Pearl’s eyes cheerfully. “I’ll introduce him to you. You’re gonna love him, he’s a nice man.”

   “Okay then.” Pearl grinned, wondering who this man might be. Beach City was a small town anyway, it could be absolutely anyone she knew. “I’m looking forward to it.”

   “… Oh man, what just happened here?” Peridot laughed while approaching them from behind Pearl’s back, making both girls turn to her. “Didn’t Pearl just slap you a little while ago?”

   Pearl immediately blushed, her lips turned into a straight line.

   “That was just a… a  _little_  misunderstanding.” Lapis grinned foolishly, one of her hands then fell down while the other one surrounded Pearl’s waist and tugged her closer, making Pearl blush more.

   Peridot shook her head quickly, smirking with a suspicious expression on. “You two are crazy together…” She said and then bypassed them, heading to Percy’s stall. She grabbed the gate handle and with a huff she opened the stall, then she slipped inside. “And what exactly happened, huh?” She asked Lapis and pulled a hoof pick out of her pocket.

   “Umm.” Lapis swallowed and eyed Pearl with a corner of her eye. Pearl imitated her actions and bit her lip.

   Peridot was waiting and even though she turned to them after an awkward moment of silence, none of them spoke. “Hey, let me guess.” Peridot then asked and slipped out of the stall. Holding a hoof pick in her hand, she walked towards them and then stopped in front of them. She scanned both of them closely – especially Pearl and her bashful expression. She squinted. “Hmm…” The small blonde pouted, rubbing her chin and staring at Pearl’s scarf.

   The skinny girl cleared her throat. She wasn’t able to neither speak nor look directly at Peridot but rub her hands together.

   “I don’t know why, but I smell a hickey.” Peridot frowned, a smirk on her lips.

   Pearl swallowed and scratched her nape, murmuring something to herself. She remained silent. What was she supposed to do? The fact that she wasn’t responding was just making Peridot convinced that she guessed right, making Pearl herself feel awkward.

   “Ahahah, I knew it!” Peridot pointed at her, laughing at how red Pearl’s face was. She laughed maybe for a good minute, catching her breath and slapping her knee, but after that she straightened and fixed her hair by running her hand through it. “Hey, tell me, why do you even wear that scarf, Pearl? You should be proud of that hickey, man, not hiding it.”

   “I-uh…” Pearl raised her index finger as if she wanted to point out something, but all of a sudden she was interrupted by a voice, however, this voice definitely didn’t belong to Peridot or Lapis. Whose was it then? The voice was coming from the barn and was followed by heavy footsteps.

   “Oh, there you are! Hello, ladies.” They heard. A middle-aged man with long, light-brown hair was slowly approaching them. There was a bag hanging down his shoulder and he was searching for something in there, not looking directly at the present girls.

   “Oh, hey, Gregory.” Peridot snorted, putting her hands onto her hips. Lapis snorted at that fun-sounding note, but greeted the man, too.

   The older man laughed briefly at that and raised his head to correct the small blonde, but right as he did, he immediately stiffened. He stared at the third girl, the tallest one, the familiar one – well, more than just familiar. He stared wide-eyed at Pearl, his hand froze in his bag, too.

   Pearl swallowed, eyes just as wide as Greg's. Her mouth almost fell open as she saw him. “Y-you?” She let out. Suddenly, her body started trembling uncontrollably. Tips of her fingers were quickly getting cold as soon as her hands and arms were flooded by chills. She couldn’t even tell how fast tears came into her eyes.

   There was this feeling again; the feeling which she was trying to forget long time ago, but unsuccessfully, fighting it, urgently trying to ignore it, trying to just get it out of her mind – the terrible feeling of betrayal, the feeling of hopelessness and distress, the one which made her life become hell. This was him. This was the man because of whom she lost everything – her life, her hope and her incurable, broken heart.

   “Pearl?” Greg raised his brows in surprise, slowly removing his hand from the bag, staring still at that girl.

   Lapis was watching them both, looking at Pearl, then looking at Greg and back at Pearl. She was became confused due to their expressions. Especially Pearl’s expression was making her worried; her terrified eyes were just giving her chills. "Um, you guys?"

   “No… no. Not again.” Pearl was shaking her head, making small steps backwards. It felt like a nightmare came back to her, like if the creepiest dreams came true. All that she wanted to do was run away from it as far as she could – if ever. This will be another great battle. She couldn't stand being near him, not after all that happened. She had to get out of there. Right now.

   “Pearl, are you okay?” Lapis asked worriedly, taking Pearl by her hand, but Pearl kept shaking her head and stepping away.

   Pearl could hear voices. Her mind was fogged with memories and images from the past; those cloudy and cold days, those rainy nights when she used to cry until the sun rose up, when she was starving for too many days and how weak and powerless she felt, not answering her phone for weeks, hidden in her pantry, curled up in a ball and lying on the cold floor while her cat was crying and scratching the door, hungry and pleading Pearl to come out – all those awful memories were back again, just as her past emotions. There were too many scenes forbidding her from coming back to reality, too many.

   “Talk to me.” Lapis carefully took her other hand, too, facing her, but this was enough for Pearl to start running.

   She slipped away from Lapis’ grip then and ran towards the exit of the stable with tears falling down from her face, making wet dots on the ground behind her.

   “Pearl, wait!” Lapis reached her hand, but Pearl was too far to catch. Lapis gasped and stayed staring after her with mouth open. She then turned back to the man with eyes filled with confusion and worry. “What-what’s going on? What happened?”

   Greg exhaled sorrowfully and palmed his face. His eyes were closed, but then he opened them and ran his hand through his hair. “… That’s… a long story, Lapis.”

   “B-but… what-where…” Lapis stuttered, looking out of the stable after her friend, then back at Greg and Peridot who seemed as confused as Lapis was.

   “… I think you should rather go after her.” He said then, voice low.

   Lapis didn't have to be told twice and she immediately ran after Pearl, confused, worried, running as fast as she could, calling her name and wishing to get a response.

   “Pearl!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl was angry with Lapis because of the hickeys  
> • Greg showed up in the stable  
> • After meeting Greg, Pearl ran away from the stable
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Saturday morning)


	27. Scars

   Lapis found it kind of unfair that her legs were shorter than Pearl’s, and that meant that she couldn’t reach Pearl even if she tried her best. She could see Pearl running up the hill along the rope fence before, but she disappeared behind the horizon sooner than Lapis could even reach the fenced pasture.

   The equestrian followed the path along the grazing meadow, running in Pearl’s footsteps and calling after her, but the constant yelling was making her more and more exhausted, it caused her lose more energy than if she was running without any word escaping her mouth, and although she knew that Pearl couldn't hear her, she kept calling and calling, choking and swallowing the soil dust spread in the air through which she ran.

   Finally she made it to the top. She stopped and took a glance around, but Pearl was nowhere to see. Lapis leaned her palms against her knees and took a deep breath, trying to stop her head from spinning. She wasn’t used to dashing like that and she felt like she should take a break, but also she was worried that she won’t be able to catch up to Pearl if she stays here any longer.

   So Lapis took the rest of her strength and started off scooting after the girl again.

<•••>

   Pearl was already far, far enough not to hear any horse neigh or people calling her name. She was running headless with eyes swollen and watery, tears slipping down her cheeks, her jaw and neck. Her body was aching, she was all trembling, there was a chaos in her head, in her heart. It was so ridiculous to her how just a small ‘ _thing_ ’, a person, could entirely ruin her day just with a click of the fingers. This wasn’t fair. She thought that she’d already moved on. But she had not.

   She ran, without thinking, aimless, without any zest for life. She didn’t care if she’d run over by a car, by a train, or if she’d fall into another ditch. She didn’t care if she’d get lost, if she wouldn’t come home or if someone would be looking for her. She felt hopeless, helpless, like if there was no way to help her out of this mess. She hated when she felt this way, how much energy she was losing by just trying to fight this feeling or forget. This was like if she was trapped on an island, surrounded by deep waters full of visions of the past, with dark stormy skies above her head and lightning bolts lashing her weak body violently from every world side as many loud cries could be heard until they’re too weak to be noticed, leaving her paralyzed body lying on the ground without anybody knowing about the storm that’s raging inside of her and poisoning her until there’s nothing left of her.

   Then suddenly her brain stopped filtering all the thoughts as Pearl’s toes sank into a hole in the ground, making her stumble over.  With a loud scream and a slight shock her body headed to the ground, hitting it extremely hard with her knees first, her elbows, palms and head followed then, causing a hard thunk and a sharp pain run through her body right after.

   Pearl lied there for a few seconds, perceiving the pain in her head uncontrollably rising, just as quickly as the world around her was becoming blurry and unrecognizable.

    “Oow…” She whined in pain, sniffing. She started sobbing even more then, realizing how intense the pain actually was, but then she started to suffocate herself with the soil dust which she dispersed into the air by falling into it. She coughed, trying to get rid of the dust slowly lodging in her lungs, cupping her mouth with her palm, body shivering and aching. She tried to raise her body then, but the harder she pressed against her knees and palms, the more it hurt. Pearl then rolled over to her side to avoid making the pain raise, then she sat up and started coughing again. This feeling of hopelessness and rising pain felt just so terrible and disquieting.

   There were trails of blood flowing down along Pearl’s shins, she noticed, and still there was more and more blood coming out of her knees. The abrasions there were quite large, although Pearl managed to hit the ground only once. And her elbows were no different as she checked them both.

   She froze then, staring at her knees. She started sobbing, producing more and more tears, wondering what to do. She was sitting on the ground, getting yet weaker as the blood was pouring down from her scrapes. The only thing she wanted to do was to surround her knees with her arms, curl up into a ball and cry as loud as she could, but there already was too much pain to cause another just in need to feel at least a little comfort. So she just bent her legs, placed the back of her palms on her thighs and hung her head, whining and crying into her lap, loudly, yet no one could hear it.

<•••>

   Lapis’s legs were protesting these past five minutes of running, knees buckling so bad that she almost couldn’t even walk now. She exhaled into the air, head turned up to the sky. “Oh my Goood…” She groaned, entirely defeated. “Pearl, where are you?” She asked sorrowfully, voice slightly cracking, sweat drops rolling down her forehead. She then bent forward against her knees once more and tried to catch her breath. Her head started spinning unpleasantly again, making her close her eyes for a moment, hoping for it to stop, then there was her throat becoming super dry from constant calling, too.

   “Lapis… Come on, girl.” Lapis tried to spur herself, eyes still closed. “Come on, come on… You gotta find Pearl… She needs you, goddamnit.” The girl inhaled deeply and gingerly she straightened, resolutely making a step forward to continue in her journey.

   She had no more power to run, there was no chance to do it. She tried to walk quickly at least, but soon she could feel a stinging side pain because of it, so she had to slow down again, making herself frustrated that finding Pearl will last forever like this.

   Lapis walked for five more minutes, then appearing on the top of the hill where sunflower fields were spreading below. It was the high noon at the time, the sun was shining bright down on the world, the wind was making the golden sunflowers smoothly dance. There was an absolute silence all around but the wind blowing slightly, making Lapis’ hair flutter in the warm air.

   She stopped for a while and stared to the farness, scanning the loamy path as it was narrowing and then vanishing in the distance, watching birds flying above the fields and chirping faintly, she watched the clouds slowly and inaudibly passing the blue sky, until she noticed something which made her head turn a bit lower.

   Her heart skipped a beat, maybe more than just one, right as she realized that the something was her. It was the one she’s been looking for.

   “Pearl!” Lapis gasped, and finding the last piece of strength, she ran towards her as fast as she could. In a few seconds she finally got to her, but she froze in instant as she noticed the wide bloody trails rolling along Pearl’s shins and hands. She immediately kneeled down to her, Pearl’s face was drowned in tears. “Pearl? Pearl, are you okay?” She took Pearl by her shoulders gently and made her lift her eyes.

   Pearl’s throat was full of sobs, full of words she couldn’t cry out. There were so many tears filling her eyes and flowing upon her cheeks, dripping from her jaw down on her injured hands. She then sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

   “Jesus Christ, what did you do?” Lapis asked, scanning Pearl from head to foot, watching the blood streaming down from her knees and elbows.

   Instead of a response Pearl kneeled on her knees in an effort to toss her hands around Lapis and hug her tightly, but the contact of her knees and the gravel ground only caused her an instant sharp pain and made Pearl fall over right away, but fortunately for her, she fell right into Lapis’ outstretched arms.

   “Pearl, oh my god!” Lapis caught her right in time. She pulled Pearl right towards her chest and hugged her tightly, being especially careful not to touch any of her bleeding abrasions.

   Pearl hugged Lapis back around her waist, as firmly as she could, and sank her face into Lapis’ chest. The only thing she managed to do was to start crying and sobbing intensely – now she finally felt like she was free and allowed to do it. So she cried, she screamed and cried again, sobbing, gasping.

   “Shhh, shhh…” Lapis hushed her softly. She was rocking them both gently, stroking Pearl’s smooth hair and placing sweet kisses in it and watching as her lovebird was literally cracking up in her arms. Just the look at Pearl was making Lapis feel really bad and miserable herself. “Shh, it’s okay… It’s okay, honey. I’m here.” She was whispering repeatedly, trying to ease Pearl’s cries at any cost, because they were almost making Lapis cry, too – her every sob, her every cracked breath was like a knife stab straight into her heart. But then there were these scrapes making Lapis worried. They were getting no better, but quite the opposite. There was gravel and dust in her wounds, deep in the affected flesh, making Pearl hiss or whine in pain every so often.

   “We have to get you back to stable.” Lapis proclaimed, staring at the girl’s poor bruised knees. But Pearl instantly shook her head quickly at that idea, tugging Lapis yet closer. Just imagining meeting Greg again almost made her sobs intensify yet more.

   “Pearl, don’t argue with me.” Lapis frowned slightly, but still worried. “Just look at your knees. You’re gonna get an infection…” She gestured towards them, watching them for a second or two. “You have to go back with me.”

   Pearl shook her head once more and wiped her eyes, then hugged Lapis back again. “I…” She sniffed, clinging on Lapis tightly. “I can’t.”

   Lapis stayed speechless for a while, eyeing Pearl and the big tears coming out of her red glassy eyes, her breath was irregular. Lapis wondered what could happen. Why did Pearl run away? Was it because of Greg? Did they know each other? Uh, surely. Why would Pearl run away then? Just because she likes running? Hardly.

   “Why not?” Lapis asked carefully in whisper and petted Pearl’s hair gently.

   Pearl’s eyes went wide then, her heart skipped a beat. Just the idea that she should say his name was making her feel sick. She didn’t want to talk about what happened, although she knew that it would make her mind ease a bit. There was pretty much going on more than three years ago. The day when she was told what exactly was going on between Rose and Greg ruined her entire life, and yet she was so addicted and devoted to Rose that the pain inside her has still remained occupying her soul until now. It was so hard for her to let go. Still.

   “… Is it because of him?” Lapis whispered and perceived that Pearl stopped breathing for a moment.

   A silence pierced the air once more as the blue-haired girl waited for a response. It took Pearl a moment to act, but finally she made herself nod faintly without saying a single word.

   Lapis wanted to know more, but she knew that this probably wasn’t the perfect time for asking for answers and also she knew that whatever happened between them wasn’t good.

   Lapis thought then. She suddenly remembered what Pearl told her once when they were sitting on her favorite rock just above the poppy fields. She told her about one woman, a big woman with pink curly hair and she also remembered that this type of woman Greg once arrived to the stable. Her name was Rose, and after she gave a birth to her son, she passed away.

   And right after that Lapis perceived. Her dark eyes stayed wide open after she realized everything. Suddenly everything made sense to her. Pearl always spoke so lovely about Rose and shortly after she became sad. Lapis even wondered if this could be the reason why Pearl did name her cat Rose. Was it her who gave Pearl the cat? That would be all understandable. Pearl must have really loved her, Lapis thought. She felt really sorry for her.

   She locked her lips in a tight line then and shut her eyes with a heavy sign. Now she understood. She actually had to admit that Rose was quite attractive woman, and though she saw her only once, Lapis could tell. “Ah, honey…” She sighed again and tugged Pearl as close as physically possible, nuzzling her peach hair softly with her nose, making it flutter every time she breathed out. “I’m so sorry.”

   A half an hour passed quickly and Pearl’s sobs lightly weakened thanks to Lapis’ closeness and her hand soothing Pearl by petting her hair fondly, with love and sympathy. But the longer they were sitting on the ground, the more was Lapis getting worried about Pearl’s wounds, they were wide open and dirty. Lapis couldn’t leave them like that, no more.

   “Honey, we have to go back… We need to clean your wounds. You can’t stay like this.” She offered thoughtfully, but Pearl only looked at her pleadingly. She didn’t want to go back, not if he’s still there.

   “Come on.” She stroked her kindly, whispering. “You don’t have to go inside. We just have to make sure that you won’t get an infection.”

   Pearl hummed at that sorrowfully, but she gave up trying then. She knew that Lapis won’t let herself be talked out of it, because Pearl was too important to her and Lapis didn’t want her to suffer.

   Now Pearl was scared of going back, paradoxically not because of horses this time, but she let herself be lifted up on her feet. Lapis supported her and helped Pearl up cautiously. Pearl was slightly bent in her knees, the unpleasant pain was still lasting, just as her tears remaining still in her eyes.

   “Are you okay? Can you walk?” Lapis asked and surrounded Pearl’s waist with her arm to support her while walking back, she then took Pearl’s hand and tossed it over her shoulder, pulling Pearl yet bit closer.

   The tall girl nodded quickly, although every step was rather painful for her. She was limping a little, trying to keep up with Lapis, but Lapis was enough considerate to adapt to Pearl’s pace.

   The stable was quite far from them, but they managed to get there in less than one hour. Lapis helped Pearl sit down on the bench next to the stable entrance and asked her to stay there for a while. Pearl agreed and laid her head back against the wall, trying to breathe deeply, eyes closed.

   Lapis headed to the barn and for her surprise she could find Greg still there. He was talking to Peridot and noting something to his notepad while leaning his back against a stall.

   “Oh, there she is.” Peridot proclaimed after noticing Lapis approaching them swiftly. Greg turned to her, too. “What happened there, Lap? Where’s Pearl?” Peridot continued.

   “She’s outside.” Lapis said and stopped briefly in front of them, not looking at Greg. “Where’s the first-aid kit?”

   “What for?” Greg gasped, watching Lapis with a slight frown, a worry was visible in his face.

   For some reason Lapis didn’t want to speak with Greg at that moment. She was mad, she was mad at him. He was the reason why was Pearl sad, he was the one who caused all of this. But would he do it to Pearl if he knew she was this fragile and sensitive? She wondered. But still, Greg was a really kind and good man, he was responsible, too, and he always helped Lapis when she needed it.

   Lapis exhaled. The sign helped her ease her tensed mind a little. She closed her eyes for a second, tried to calm down and remain breathing slowly. “Pearl fell, her skin is abraded. I gotta get disinfection.”

   “Wow.” Peridot let out and chuckled faintly. “That happens when Greg comes on stage.”

   “Not funny, Peridot.” Lapis hissed, frowning. Greg furrowed his brows, too, looking at Peridot who rather looked aside to avoid any more astonishment. Greg knew that this situation was serious, and especially when it was about Pearl. He’s got through much, too, and he knew how Pearl felt about his relationship with Rose and especially about him.

   “So where is it?” Lapis managed to ask before a horse whinny drowned her voice. “The kit.”

   The man hummed and looked towards the exit of the stable, speaking slowly. “I suppose it’s in tack room.”

   Lapis nodded with a hum and turned on her heels towards the tack room, heading straight there. But after two steps she stopped slowly. Just now she realized that she was gone for more than one hour and that Greg was still waiting for her in the stable and that he knew that Lapis doesn’t keep her phone with herself, so he could contact her when she was gone. He could have just left, but he had not. He insisted to go through one of many important trainings, even when he’s busy all the time and barely has time for a training with Lapis or other riders. He was probably really determined to do their training today, because he wouldn’t be there then if he wasn’t, Lapis thought.

   She turned to him slowly with a regretful look. She scratched her forearm nervously. “Greg, I…”

   Greg sighed softly and rubbed on his temples. “I guess we won’t make it today, huh?”

   “Greg, I’m really sorry.” Lapis shook her head, crossing arms on her chest. “I can’t leave her there like that.”

   The man sighed again, a bit more deeply this time. He put his hands in his hips. “It’s okay… I understand, Lapis.” He said, but Lapis could feel a hint of disappointment in his voice. She didn’t know what to do, she really felt bad about this whole situation. This wasn’t nice from her, she knew it. She knew that this was one of the few last chances to train for Grand Prix, she knew that Greg has very little time for these things and for her, and this whole unexpected situation just ruined it, finally when he managed to make some time for her. Lapis really regretted it and she was certain that Greg surely wasn’t too much happy about it, too. But Lapis just couldn’t leave Pearl behind, not right now.

   “There are many things that I and Pearl went through, and they remain unsorted. It never was easy between us.” He clarified and put his notepad into his bag. “I know that what happened in the past hurt her… And that it was partly my fault, but I don’t want her to suffer. She doesn’t deserve it.” He said with a low voice, there appeared a small sad smile on his lips. “Just go and take care of her today. We’ll agree on other training another time.”

   It quite surprised Lapis, her eyes widened. So it was true – the thing with Rose was real. But what surprised her even more was the fact that Greg actually cared about Pearl and about how she felt, but still Lapis wondered if he knew about Pearl and Rose. This was one of so many questions circling around her head, and there were all types of all emotions, too. She didn’t know what to think, what to say. “But, Greg… We’ve already lost too much time.”

   “I know.” He placed his big hand on Lapis’ shoulder gently. “But you wouldn’t leave her there, would you?”

   Lapis’ eyes fell to the floor and she bit her lip.

   Greg smiled and patted Lapis’ shoulder, giving it a light squeeze then. “Then go. I’ll contact you later.”

   “Really?” She raised her head, surprised that Greg actually meant it.

   He didn’t say anything, just nodded, and Lapis smiled widely, too. “Ah, Greg… You’re a god.”

   The man chuckled at that and removed his hand from Lapis. “It’s no big deal.”

   “It is.” Lapis frowned, but smiled yet more. “Thank you, man… Really.”

   Greg nodded, saying nothing more and turning on his heels. He headed out of the stable and soon he disappeared.

   The rider stood speechless on a spot for a while then to slow down her mind, to release her worries and also ease the excitement that the situation got solved quite well, but there was no time for this, she had to get the first-aid kit and head back to Pearl – immediately.

   It took Lapis about thirty seconds to find what she was looking for and then she quickly walked back to Pearl. She got outside and found Pearl sitting still in the same position as she left her, only the trails of blood slightly stiffened.

   Lapis kneeled down in front of Pearl. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry it took me so long.” She apologized and unzipped the small red bag.

   Pearl half-opened one her eyes and looked down at Lapis, but remained still. With a soft sign she answered in whisper. “It’s okay.”

   Lapis looked up at her and shared a little smile with her. “How do you feel?” She asked and pulled a gauze and a bottle with disinfectant within out of the kit. She shook the bottle a little and then instilled the liquid into the gauze.

   “Not much better.” Pearl admitted, voice low. She opened her eyes then and perceived the breeze stroking her cheeks before a question popped out in her mind. She was almost ashamed to ask it, but she asked in the end, a bit hesitantly. “Is… He still there?” Pearl bit her lip, but wasn’t brave enough to look down at her friend.

   Lapis was the one who looked at the other then. She wondered what she should say. Should she say what happened there? What Greg said? That probably wasn’t a good idea. Mainly she didn’t want to analyze it into deep, because she would only make Pearl feel bad again, and she definitely didn’t want to cause this.

   “He’s left.” She said simply, partly convinced that Pearl won’t ask any more questions then, but for her surprise she was wrong.

   “But you've got a training today… Right?” Pearl wondered.

   “No, we canceled it.” Lapis opposed, looking at Pearl.

   Pearl frowned slightly, still watching the sky above. “But… Why? You said you can’t skip it.” She remarked, a bit surprised.

   “Yeah.” Lapis giggled. “But I couldn’t just leave you here like this, right?”

   The taller girl looked down at her finally, but said nothing because of the excitement.

   “What?” Lapis grinned at her friend’s expression.

   “Lapis…” Pearl let out something between a gasp and a groan. “But… Why did you–”

   “–Hey, you’re more important to me than some training.” She smiled warmly. “Besides… I can train myself quite well, too, so.”

   “Lappy…” Pearl shook her head in disbelief. She looked aside. “You shouldn’t…” Pearl tried, but the end of the sentence turned into a sign.

   “Don’t worry about it, honey.” Lapis assured her. “It’s just a small competition. I can prepare myself for it whenever I want. I don’t exactly need a coach for it.” And although she said that, she knew that it was't true. The Granx Prix is not just ' _a small competition_ ', is it? Honestly Lapis was quite stressed out about it, because Grand Prix was already knocking on the door – there were only a few weeks left!

   The tall girl signed once more, this time a bit more softly. She smiled a little then and looked back up to the heavens. “You’re gonna drive me crazy one day.”

   Lapis chuckled at that, but said nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis found Pearl nearby sunflower fields and brought her back to the stable  
> • Greg told Lapis to stay with Pearl and canceled their training
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Saturday morning + noon)
> 
>  **PS:** Hello there, guys! ♥ I succesfully graduated and now I'm gonna add some new chapters. This fiction is also going to be illustrated, so feel free to check in a short time for illustrations! ^w^ (they will be visible on my tumblr, too! (cajda-chan.tumblr.com) Also after I finish this fanfiction I'm planning to write another one called "My Indigo" about a love triangle between Peridot/Lapis/Pearl!  
>  Thank you so much for support and comments, you're really kind and amazing!  
> See you soon! ;)


	28. Take Care of Me

   There was a brief moment of silence all around, except for a faint chirping and a whinny of a horse. Pearl closed her eyes and breathed in before breathing out again.

   Peacefully she listened to the wind for a while, but suddenly she cried out in pain as something pressed against the open wound on her left knee. Pearl’s eyes went wide as quickly as her head turned down towards Lapis who has pressed the wet gauze against the abrasion, and Pearl winced that sharply that it even startled the girl kneeling in front of her. “Ouch!”

   “I’m sorry! I’m sorry.” Lapis took the gauze back for a moment, just to make Pearl calm down. “Maybe I pressed too much…” She bit her lip. “Forgive me… But, you gotta hold on, Pearl. We have to clean it.”

   Pearl huffed, and while squeezing the edge of the bench firmly, she leaned back against the wall. She took a deep breath and clenched her teeth, watching Lapis’ movements.

   Lapis remained still for a few seconds, scanning Pearl closely, but then she carefully pressed the gauze to the wound again. There came a painful hiss from Pearl at the contact, but this time she held the scream inside and swallowed it down.

   Lapis took Pearl behind the crook of her knee and started to brush away the stiffened blood, softly soothing Pearl with comforting words as she was trying to keep the whines inside.

   It was hard for Pearl to remain still, because the disinfectant was causing a smarting pain every time Lapis brushed the wound, but soon Pearl started to get used to it as Lapis started off with the other knee.

   “You’re doing great.” Lapis smiled at her friend, petting Pearl with her thumb as she held her behind her knee. “We’re almost done down here.”

   Pearl let out a sign of relief as she imagined the half of the work being done. She turned her head up to the sky and closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath.

   The equestrian smiled a little up at the girl. She then added a new fresh liquid on the gauze, wiping off the rest of the blood remaining on Pearl’s shins. As she finished, she grabbed new piece of gauze and added the disinfectant on the fabric, kneeling up. Earlier she noticed that Pearl’s elbows were scraped, too, so she started off with one of them then, holding Pearl gently by her arm.

   Pearl watched how concentrated Lapis was. She had that typical focused expression on, with one brow slightly raised and her tongue peeking out of her lips a little.

   It made Pearl giggle softly. She tried her best to be inconspicuous, but vainly. Lapis looked into her turquoise eyes and interrupted cleaning her elbow. “What?”

   Unsuccessfully Pearl tried to stop, but there was no chance for her to bit back a chuckle. “You’ve got that expression on again.”

   “Which expression?” Lapis inquired curiously, but then continued in wiping off the dirt from Pearl's wound.

   The girl winced a bit at the contact again, but didn’t get distracted by it. “The concentrated one.”

   Lapis shrugged with a snort. “Sure, because I’m concentrating.” She proclaimed and asked Pearl to give her the other hand after Lapis added new disinfectant to the gauze.

   It meant a lot to Pearl, the fact that Lapis really cared about her and was worried about her that much that Lapis would jump straight into the open fire to save her, this was just warming Pearl’s heart. Lapis was treating her well, she was careful and patient with her, taking care of her whenever she needed any support. Lapis was always there for her and Pearl truly appreciated that. Recently she started to realize who truly was worth loving and paying attention to.

    “Ah, my sweet Lappy.” Pearl sighed dreamily and stroked Lapis along her indigo hair. “Thank you for taking care of me… What would I do without you?”

Lapis chuckled softly. “Anything for my baby.” She said and gave Pearl a sweet smile.

 

   Several minutes have passed. Lapis brought the first-aid kit back on its place while Pearl stood in the doorway of the stable, leaning against the jamb. She watched the stable interior. She already got used to that smell, but she never considered it as unpleasant. She was used to the smell of shells and seaweed from visiting her dad as he arrived from the sea back to the harbor with fish and many other ocean products to sell.

   Peridot was already gone with a half of the stable left perfectly clean, most horses were grazing in the pasture and some of them were settled in their stalls. The floor was quite clean, too, with only a few straws laying there. The wash stall was used at least twice, still there was a wide pool of water on the ground in it. Although there were horses neighing every so often, this was a really calm place. Once Pearl stood there even the mother swallow flew through the corridor to visit her babies and after a while she flew out of the stable to find more food. Pearl wondered how much the bird babies grew, for a moment she wished for seeing them someday again.

   Lapis then got out of the tack room, holding a box with brushes and combs in her arms, telling Pearl that she still has to clean Blue and her stall. Pearl nodded and followed Lapis towards the Hanover’s stall. She leaned her shoulder against the gate’s outer side and peeked inside, watching Lapis and Blue standing there and lashing her tail.

   The equestrian pulled two big pieces of chopped apple out of her pocket and handed them to her mare, patting and stroking her along her muscular neck.

   Blue took the apples without any hesitance and swallowed them instantly. She then poked Lapis in her back in effort to have another treat as the equestrian was bending down for Blue’s left front pastern to clear her hoof.

   “Na-ah.” She shook her head. “Not yet, baby. You gotta wait until I’m done with you.”

   Blue’s reaction was rather a frustrated snort which echoed in the stall then for a second, but Lapis just smirked at that. She picked up the horse’s foot and started clearing the dirt from below the horseshoe with a hoof pick. As she was done, she headed towards her rear leg and did the same.

   It was kind of entertaining for Pearl. She always wondered how it’s done –cleaning, combing, feeding and all the work around horses and the overall farm industry. There was always plenty of work. It was fun to watch, but hard to do, even for Lapis who was well experienced since she was a little girl. But then in the middle of her train of thoughts, Greg came up to her mind once again. She would never guess that someone like him would have something to do with horses. Pearl was even surprised herself.

   Then, in spite of everything that seemed perfect and peaceful at the moment, Pearl became sad. She was really great at remembering things, especially the bad ones. She would never imagine meeting Greg in a place such like this. Honestly she never thought that she would ever see him again, but she guessed that meeting him was bound to happen, one day or another. He surely appeared in her life for some reason, to teach her and to fill her fate somehow, to teach her the art of forgiveness and help her to move on from the rut.

   She felt regretful about everything bad that happened – everything that happened with Rose, what happened with Greg and all that happened this late morning. She felt sorry for putting Lapis into this situation, into this mess. She never wanted Lapis to experience something bad, the only thing which Pearl had Lapis connected with was happiness and joy, but she never wanted to put any heavy cargo on Lapis’ back, she never did. But Lapis was always willing to help Pearl whenever something bad happened. Who knows if it was affecting Lapis somehow? Pearl was only truly grateful for having such a sweetheart by her side. She never knew how she could make it up to Lapis, though, for everything she’d done for her.

   “Honey?” Pearl suddenly caught, Lapis’ voice dragged her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to her.

   “Yes?” She reacted, lips lightly parted.

   “So? Will you stay?” She asked, but the tone of it rather sounded like it was a repeated question.

   “Umm.” Pearl’s mouth clapped closed, she thought for a second or two. “… Today?”

   Lapis sighed sadly then. She recognized that Pearl wasn’t listening to her, probably lost in her own thoughts. Lapis’ shoulders dropped down just as the corners of her lips turned downwards. She put the curry comb back into the box and slowly she walked to Pearl, with eyebrows worriedly furrowed. “Pearl… Is everything okay?” She wondered, almost whispering. She reached her hand and gently she placed it on the girl’s smooth cheek, petting her with her thumb. Well, actually she could guess what was going on, but she rather wanted to make sure.

   Pearl stared back at her for a brief moment before she hid her face in her palm with a deep exhale. Was she actually this distracted? She really had been cogitating too much. This deep thinking was slowly ruining her, burning her from the inside. This wasn’t right. Pearl truly needed to fix this somehow. She knew it.

   A soft sniff could be heard from her then, almost unrecognizable. “… I don’t know.” Pearl whined into her palm.

   “Pearl.” Lapis sighed sorrowfully. She removed Pearl’s hand from her face gingerly, she then took her other hand and wrapped them both in her own warm hands. “I… I’m so sorry.” She said, perceiving Pearl’s psychical pain which was slowly sucking life out of her. Lapis knew about what she was thinking, because the air abruptly turned really heavy. It was hard for Pearl to breathe, just as for Lapis.

   “Why am I so weak?” Pearl suddenly let out in quiet sobs, making Lapis clasp her in her arms tightly right after, just to make her feel at least a little bit of comfort and sympathy.

   “But… You’re not.” Lapis disagreed. She stroked her along her light peach hair fondly and gave her cheek a soft peck before hugging her once again.

   “Yes, I am.” Pearl opposed, hugging Lapis back around her waist. She bit her lip. “Otherwise I wouldn’t cry like a little baby.”

   It made Lapis sigh again. She hugged Pearl a bit firmer and offered her to lay her head on her shoulder, scratching her tenderly and placing little kisses in her hair.

   Lapis wanted to help, but she already knew that this kind of state was really difficult for Pearl to overcome. But fortunately it was way easier when Lapis was around. Her sympathy was honest, she always listened and did her best to comfort Pearl and to get her through it.

 

   The sun was gradually setting down and white clouds were turning into purple ones, just as slow as the sky was darkening.

   The time was showing 6 PM on Lapis’ watch and all the work was finally coming to an end. Pearl offered Lapis her hands and helped her clean a few stalls, trying to fight off all her worries, but unfortunately this one was hard, it was difficult to even focus on stupid sweeping.

   She was trying to cover her quiet sobs somehow, at least in order to hide them from Lapis, because she was just that worried about Pearl that she was asking her every five minutes if she was okay while Pearl was mindlessly nodding at that with a weak smile, although the answer was always against her sore heart.

   Lapis closed the giant stable gate across the corridor and locked it, she then walked through the hall and made sure that all the stalls were safely closed and that everything was on its place before she entered the barn where Pearl was waiting.

   Lapis couldn’t see her friend from the stable hallway, because Pearl was behind the corner in the barn, leaning against the wall and head slightly hung down, arms crossed on her chest. There was no smile on her face, no light, no hope.

   “Pearl.” Whispered Lapis as she stood in front of the girl, leaving only a little space between their bodies. She unwound her crossed arms and took her cold hands into hers – it was a slight shock for her just how cold her hands were.

   “Hm?” Pearl lifted her eyes, although she didn’t want to. However, in the end she didn’t regret it, because she found Lapis’ eyes looking back at her.

   “Wouldn’t you want to stay overnight?” She asked gently, petting Pearl with her thumbs, soothing her.

   “I…” The tall girl let out a faint sign and left Lapis’ eyes then, ashamed of her own behavior – being so far from the reality and drowning in the past, almost unable to focus on the surroundings. She just felt so weak and confused. “… I don’t know. I should probably go home.”

   “Are you sure?” The rider asked, a little too much unsure about this idea. She didn’t want it to end up like for the last time when Pearl was left alone in her home.

   “I guess.” Pearl said, but the answer wasn’t quite that convincing as she wished it to be.

   It made Lapis exhale. If only there was something she could do to make Pearl finally feel better, at least a little. “Alright.” Lapis nodded, although against her will. “Do you want to go... Now?”

   Pearl didn’t, but she guessed that this could be the right time – time to leave before Lapis notices her dissolving into tears. So she nodded weakly.

   It was hard for Lapis to comply due to how miserable Pearl looked, but she did. Pearl pushed herself away from the wall and unhurriedly headed to her car parked on the nearby parking lot, still holding each other’s hands.

   Pearl pulled car keys out of her pocket and unlocked the car, stretching her hand to reach the door handle, but before she did, Lapis managed to stop her with her soft voice.

   “Here, I’ll drive you home.” She offered and covered the door handle with her hand, so Pearl couldn’t grab it. She then placed her other hand on Pearl’s shoulder and squeezed it gently.

   Pearl blinked twice before looking at Lapis. “You’re sweet, Lapis, but…” Pearl swallowed then and took Lapis’ hand which was placed on her shoulder a while before. But she stayed silent.

   “No buts.” Lapis proclaimed. “I don’t want you to drive like this.”

   Pearl just shrugged at that weakly, she didn’t want to fight. In the end she complied and Lapis accompanied her to the passenger seat. Before closing the door behind Pearl after she sat down, Lapis placed a small kiss on her cheek, just to make the ride more comfortable for her. Lapis sat on the driver seat, buckled herself up and took the keys from Pearl, starting the car, driving her beloved home and making sure that she arrives safe.

   The ride was rather quiet. Pearl was staring out of the window, leaning her elbow against its rim and supporting her chin with her hand. She wasn’t into talking too much and Lapis knew that, so she wasn’t forcing her into communicating. She didn’t want to make things worse, although the silence was tearing Lapis apart, with an occasional glance at Pearl with a corner of her eye.

   Lapis couldn’t exactly remember the road to Pearl’s apartment and it got yet worse as the sky got dark, so Pearl had to navigate sometimes, and during the whole ride the names of the world’s sides were the only words spoken.

   They arrived within fifteen minutes to the parking lot surrounded by giant blocks of flats. Lapis parked the car carefully between two other ones, turned off the engine and then they both unbuckled themselves, getting out of the car, and while Lapis was locking the pickup, Pearl gingerly walked around it to Lapis, then they both headed towards the block where Pearl lived.

   It took maybe three minutes before they got there, because the parking lot was full at the time and the last few free places were on the other side of the housing estate, so Lapis had to park there.

   Pearl unlocked the glassed double-door and opened them slightly with a click, but this was the only thing she did. She stood still then, head hung down.

   Lapis stood there, too, silent and watching her friend, but then Pearl groaned as she realized something and lifted her head.

   “H-how are you gonna get home now?” She wondered, gazing at Lapis worriedly. ' _How couldn't I just think about it earlier? Am I really going crazy? What are we going to do now_?'

   “Don’t worry about me.” Lapis smiled. “I’m gonna take a walk.”

   Pearl shook her head. She didn’t like that idea too much. “No." Her eyes widened. "I don’t want you to walk alone anywhere this late. It's not safe.”

   “Well, buses don’t go this late hour, so.” The smaller girl snorted. “I guess have no choice.”

   “But, Lapis–“ She tried, but Lapis’ finger hushed her softly.

   “–It’s okay, dear. I’ll be fine.” Lapis then whispered, giving her one convincing smile and a blink of an eye, but for some reason Pearl still wasn’t sure about it.

   She watched Lapis still, how the street lights were illuminating her hair and making it look ginger instead of her beautiful ocean blue color, her eyes were sparkling just like two big stars, she was smiling back at Pearl and making her smile herself a little. Lapis had the most beautiful and honest smile, always making Pearl’s heart stop first, then beat as fast and crazy as a locomotive’s driving wheels running on the highest level.

   Pearl bit her lip and looked away. She still wasn’t ready to let Lapis go. She needed her close, although she wanted to be alone, she needed to be, but she was also afraid of letting Lapis walk by her own through the city in the dark. What if she gets lost? What if someone ambushes her and drags her away? Pearl couldn’t let go if these ideas abruptly, leaving her own eyes steady and milky.

   “So.” Lapis started in a soft voice which made Pearl lightly shake her head and look back at her. “… I guess I’m gonna go now.” She finished in whisper. She then stepped towards the taller girl slowly, leaving only a few inches between them. Lapis lifted her hands cautiously and in a very slow pace she took Pearl’s cheeks in them, making Pearl lose her breath in the middle of her exhale.

   “I…” Pearl half-closed her eyes, managing to finish her exhale but not the sentence.

   “Good night, sweetie. Take care.” Lapis asked kindly and delicately she pressed her lips against Pearl’s then, leaving her breathless.

   The kiss was soft and careful first, without any force or high fervor, just gentle and temperate. But the longer Lapis’ kiss was lasting, the warmer feeling inside Pearl’s chest was growing. It was like a little bulb lit on inside her and the light was becoming stronger and brighter every second, healing her heart and making it beat again.

   Shivers ran through Pearl’s body as she truly started to perceive the kiss, the gentle pressure of Lapis’ sweet lips which were brushing her own and asking for more busses. Suddenly Pearl threw her cares to the wind and forgot about everything, about Rose, about Greg. The only thing she was focusing on were the girl’s gorgeous lips, caressing and loving hers, kissing her slowly and tugging Pearl closer with her hands.

   Pearl lost her mind, drowning in a blissful feeling of rapture, rolling her eyes backwards in delight. But everything abruptly faded away as their lips parted. Everything went back to normal, her memories were back and Lapis was suddenly so far away.

   “Goodbye.” Lapis said sadly and Pearl noticed her voice slightly cracking.

   “… Goodbye.” Pearl repeated, although she felt like it was still too soon to say goodbyes. She crossed her arms on her chest anxiously then. “... Thank you for driving me home, Lappy.”

   Lapis faintly nodded, but without saying a word. At least she smiled, but this smile didn’t seem happy at all. The equestrian put her hands into her pockets then and turned on her heels, the weak smile remaining on her lips as she was turning away.

   There was a lump in Pearl’s throat, but she wasn’t able to swallow it down, not when she was watching Lapis leaving herself. Every next step was like a knife stab into her heart and the wound from it growing wider as the inches were growing between them.

   “Lapis, wait!” Pearl then called out, watching Lapis who was already something about three meters distant from her.

   The girl stopped immediately and turned towards her. The wind blew lightly into her face then, making her hair flutter. “Yes?”

   “I just…” Pearl swallowed. The feeling of hopelessness and aloneness were uncontrollably rising. She couldn’t imagine fighting it, not tonight, she already felt too weak and empty to face it. Pearl finally realized that she actually didn’t want to be alone, that she needed Lapis, she needed her close and she needed her arms around herself.

   Lapis made several steps towards her, wondering why Pearl wasn’t responding this long. She removed her hands from her pockets. “What is it, honey?”

   “Could you…” Pearl began, but then thought once more before continuing. Didn’t she want too much? She’s already asked Lapis for so many things. Lapis ran after her when she disappeared, she took care of her wounds and she drove her home. Could Pearl even ask for more? Wasn't it too much? “I’m-uh, I mean… N-nothing, just… Forget it.”

   Lapis furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She would comply if it really was Pearl’s request, but Lapis wanted to know what was behind it, so she asked softly. “Pearl, just tell me.”

   Pearl blushed instantly, and was blushing yet more as Lapis was approaching her slowly, but still she was too far to reach. Pearl sighed defeated then and shyly looked downwards. “… Could you… Could you stay, Lapis?” She whispered shakily, like if Lapis would do something to her if her voice was any louder.

   “I...” Lapis’ brows rose a bit in surprise. She wasn’t expecting such a question. Of course she could stay, and she would really love to, but there was a little problem. There were horses to take care of, she would have to get up early again and leave the flat before Pearl wakes up, because Lapis wouldn’t want to wake Pearl up when she doesn’t have to. And although Lapis is trying to earn the greatest comfort for Pearl by leaving her peacefully sleep, it makes Lapis sad, because she can’t stay in bed with her – horses and her job was forbidding her from it. But Lapis sadly wondered for how long would this relationship last if Lapis couldn’t even stay a bit longer with her girlfriend and eventually cuddle when they wake up together.

   “Please.” Pearl’s pleading dragged her out of her thoughts suddenly. “… I don’t want to be alone.”

   Could Lapis even reject this? Her heart was already too softened not to nod at her lover’s insistence. Lapis guessed that she had no choice. She decided that the horses will have to wait. It was making her heart bleed as she imagined leaving Pearl like this anyway. She had to stay – at least she won’t have any remorse for leaving Pearl alone in this state.

   “Alright.” She agreed, voice low and warming. She approached Pearl slowly with a beautiful smile decorating her lips.

   After a really long time Pearl finally smiled, and it was the loveliest smile which had Lapis ever seen. Pearl then spread her arms and quickly she wrapped them around Lapis. She hid her face in the crook of her neck and sniffed, but not because she was sad, but quite the opposite. “Thank you.” She murmured gratefully and the most beautiful feeling overwhelmed her right as a great weight was lifted from her heart. Finally it was easy for her to breathe again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis took care of Pearl and cleaned her wounds  
> • Lapis drove Pearl home  
> • Pearl asked Lapis to stay at her place over night
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Saturday afternoon + night)


	29. Starting off a New Path

   Pearl unlocked the door silently with a turn of a metal key and let the door open. An empty dark space was spreading in front of them, it was like a portal to another dimension with a soft waft of a verbal aroma welcoming them.

   The skinny girl entered the flat first, following her own shadow as she was walking further with the corridor light impacting her back.

   With a realization that Lapis has never been to Pearl’s place, a curious smile curled up on Lapis' lips. She scanned the door frame excitedly with hands folded behind her back, peering inside in effort to make a picture of what could Pearl’s apartment look like, although there was pretty much dark but the street light slightly illuminating the interior.

   Pearl switched the light on and removed the keys. She threw them in a small straw basket placed on a shoe cabinet under wooden pegs bedecked with jackets. It seemed like the jangle of the thrown keys attracted little ragdoll cat and so made it immediately check who broke in.

   Rose trotted towards the main door and welcomed her owner with a quiet meow with no doubt that it could be someone else, then ran straight towards her legs and started nuzzling them with her dark grey nose and flexible back, meowing once more to get Pearl’s attention.

   “Hi, honey.” Pearl smiled a little and took the cat in her arms. She petted it gently along its back and placed a small kiss on its forehead. Little Rose started purring and nuzzling Pearl’s jaw happily, like if she was her whole universe, settling in her arms while massaging them with her paws and leaving light claw marks on her skin.

   The blue-haired girl still stood outside the flat, curiously peering in, but as she noticed Pearl turning towards her, she straightened.

   “Come on in.” Pearl beckoned with a small grin on her lips, watching Lapis.

   The girl nodded quickly. Her body gently swung forward and she stepped over the threshold to the inside. The verbal fragrance grew a bit heavier as she went further, though it never felt irritating but had a quite good impact on her senses.

   Yet from the little foyer Lapis could guess that the flat was perfectly clean and well organized. Even this hall was looking decent, neat, with a wide crystal-clear mirror by her right side and well sorted shoes, by their color, type and use, in the shoe cabinet.

   “You can put your jacket here.” Pearl gestured then, voice low, a shy smile on her face.

   “Oh.” Lapis’ head dropped from the wall as she was excitedly scanning the whole foyer interior, looking at Pearl. “Yeah, thank you.”

   Pearl gave Lapis a smile, a little less shy than before, but conversely her cheeks turned a bit red. She crossed the hall and closed the door while Lapis was removing her jacket and putting it on a peg, and once again Pearl caught herself staring during that process, but fortunately for her Lapis didn’t notice.

   “So.” Pearl cleared her throat with a small shake of her head, pulling aside the nasty images she’s created in the back of her mind as Lapis’ jacket was taken off. “Would you like something to drink? … A tea?”

   “Um, yeah. Why not.” Lapis shrugged, but had a smirk on her face. Her arms swung down from the peg after hooking her jacket, swinging freely pass her body as she slowly walked through the hall towards Pearl.

   Just now Pearl seemed to notice how seductively actually Lapis’ pelvis was moving while walking. Has Pearl noticed it before? She would have noticed it for sure… ‘ _Or not?_ ’

   “–So, this is your cat?” Pearl caught while her mind was fogged with thoughts. Lapis suddenly appeared right in front of her, leaving Pearl clueless how did the girl get to her so quickly.

   “Oh, um, yeah.” Pearl let out, actually choosing random words just not to stay speechless. “This… Is Rose.”

   “What a sweet kitty.” Lapis hummed, already petting the ragdoll. Lapis always wished for a cat when she was little, but there were allergic issues which her adoptive father had, so they couldn’t afford to have one. Little Lapis was sad, but at least she had horses close by to fight off her sadness. And although Lapis’ first adoptive dad left and a new man, with whom Lapis’ mother gave birth to Lapis’ sister, appeared in her life, she never thought of having a cat again. Lapis was satisfied with what she had.

   “She likes you.” Pearl giggled softly, watching her ragdoll nuzzling Lapis’ palm while being petted.

   Lapis smiled back at her girlfriend, sharing a brief look with her from behind her blue bangs.

   “So, um.” Pearl swallowed her breath. “Let’s head inside.”

   Lapis agreed with a nod and followed Pearl deeper into her flat. The tall girl turned on the living room light after putting her cat down. The room, which was slightly illuminated by a street light just a few seconds ago, was now shining bright. Everything was perfectly alphabetized, perfectly sorted and clean, there wasn’t a single dust particle in the air. Everything was just right and it almost made Lapis feel uncomfortable how perfect everything was – but maybe it was just because it was pointing out how messy Lapis actually was, especially when it came to her room which she shared with her sister at aunt Agate’s house. And because Lapis wasn’t spending there too much time, the room practically became Deedee’s. Well, at least she kept the room clean.

   “Welcome to my home.” Pearl spread her arms, as much as the corners of her lips, turned to Lapis who was left stunned.

   “Oh my.” Lapis swallowed, but grinned. “It’s so… Clean.”

   “Tell me about it.” Pearl chuckled ironically, putting hands on her hips. “When anxiety strikes, I’m taking a broom.”

   “Oh, Pearl…” Lapis shook her head, sad smile on her lips. She was watching Pearl, and Pearl was watching her back, for a minute or so, until the taller girl spoke, stopping the brief awkward silence.

   “I’m gonna… Make you that tea. Make yourself at home.” She then offered and gestured towards the sofa, a small but honest smile on her lips.

   “Thank you.” Lapis nodded gratefully and watched Pearl leaving the living room, heading to a narrow room which seemed to be the kitchen.

   “Which one would you like? I’ve got a green tea, white tea or…” Pearl stood on her tiptoes while searching in cupboard above the kitchen unit. “A fruit leaf tea.”

   “You know, I think I’ll have the fruit one.” Lapis called out from the living room. That room had something into it – Lapis really liked the old-looking design. The interior and the furniture had light colors, usually faint pink and white. ' _What a lovely combination._ '

   After she scanned the living room entirely and fully enjoyed its essence, she headed to the kitchen with little Rose trotting silently behind her.

   “Okay.” Pearl grabbed the leaf tea and closed the cupboard. She put the kettle on and put the pieces of dried fruit in a tea strainer.

   Lapis quietly approached her. She stood behind Pearl’s back, watching how gracefully was Pearl manipulating with everything she touched, with ease and care, like if everything was made of fragile glass and only a small pressure would break it. It was just so enchanting how careful she was, it was curling up a smile on Lapis’ lips.

   As the tall girl was slowly working, Lapis pressed her chest against her long back, tossing her arms around Pearl’s waist and resting her chin on her bony shoulder. Lapis then started rocking them both softly, from side to side, gently squeezing Pearl’s body to give her a soothing feeling of safety while she seemed to be busy with making tea.

   After a moment of getting used to this unexpected contact, Pearl hummed happily under her breath and hugged Lapis’ arms with her own.

   There was such beautiful warmth pouring from Lapis’ body into hers while they were joined together as one. Pearl closed her eyes and ignored the kettle hissing as it started. She tilted her head and rested it on Lapis’ instead of sousing the tea.

   Lapis let the corners of her lips turn upwards yet more. She inhaled cautiously then. Pearl’s sweet perfume tickled her all the way down her throat and then filled her lungs. Pearl’s smell was unique, she would recognize her blind-folded between millions of people, she would recognize her face on a single touch, because it was soft like a velvet, its every curve was specific.

   Pearl then opened her eyes as the hissing was slowly vanishing in the air. She raised one of her hands, the other one still holding Lapis’, and took the kettle. The strainer full of fruit on the bottom of the cup gingerly started to rose up as the boiling water was spilled inside the mug. The transparent liquid started turning into dark red color, making spirals and complex shapes as the molecules under the surface were dancing.

   Lapis watched Pearl, scanning her every movement. Nothing could be hidden from her eyes as she was looking over Pearl’s shoulder. But then Lapis’ eyes darted to her face. Unfortunately, Pearl was looking ahead, spilling the water into the cup, seeming concentrated not to overflow it.

   Lapis, in order to catch the girl’s attention, nuzzled her neck a little bit which made Pearl instantly put the kettle back down on the kitchen unit, almost making it slip out of her squeeze and fall down on the floor, but Pearl's reflexes saved the day.

   Shivers inside Lapis’ stomach intensified and Pearl could feel the same in her own guts. Pearl’s perfume was traveling through Lapis’ senses and easing her nerves.

   Lapis’ lips and the tip of her nose were brushing her pale skin and making goosebumps flood her body along with something making Pearl’s stomach turn upside down as those lips were slowly wandering along her neck, making her scarf loosen with one of the hickeys being exposed.

   Pearl gasped silently to herself, eyes half-closed. Her cheeks grew warm. Even the concentration of spits inside her mouth was growing bigger as Lapis kept nuzzling, her hot breath slipping across Pearl’s slender neck. She swallowed the spits down.

   Though it was really sweet, and Pearl couldn’t get enough of it. Simply put, this was the key to throw all worries away and appear in presence.

   Soft kisses were placed on the surface of her skin, leaving no evidence behind them as Lapis moved her lips further to kiss another spot. Her fingers were softly scratching Pearl's sides, causing quick impulses running through every part of her body and goosebumps taking its place all over her skin.

   “Lappy…” The girl whispered, fighting not to let her eyes be closed, but failing. “Your tea’s gonna get cold.”

   This fact seemed to be the last thing to be bothering Lapis at that moment, so it only made her chuckle. “Oh no. What are we gonna do with it?” She wondered dramatically, but whispering, still nuzzling Pearl’s neck.

   A soft giggle left Pearl’s mouth, she then nuzzled Lapis back with a grin present on her lips. “I’m afraid that you’re going to drink it, honey.” She joked.

   “Right.” Lapis chuckled, giving Pearl one last kiss on her temple. She then let go of her, but remained being gentle as her hands were slowly shifting away from her body, and took the cup. “Thank you for the tea, sweetie.”

   “Yeah, you’re welcome.” Pearl shrugged shyly, gesturing towards the living room for Lapis to follow her.

   They both took a seat with Pearl offering Lapis to sit first since she was the quest.

   Lapis placed her cup on the table, so she could settle comfortably on the mattress first, then she took the cup back into her hands and leaned against the back of the sofa.

   The pale-skinned girl tried her best not to look like she was staring, but at least she managed to watch Lapis only with a corner of her eye, not to look suspicious. Meanwhile her cat approached them, jumped on the couch and instantly settled down in Pearl’s lap, snuggling and purring loudly. Pearl’s hand was then placed on the cat’s back and started petting her.

   Lapis noticed and chuckled softly to herself, leaving a light blush on her own face. Her smile conjured up a smile on Pearl’s face, too.

   A brief silence filled the room as none of them was speaking, only a soft purring was echoing in the interior slightly. Lapis was drinking her tea quietly with an occasional glance at Pearl with a corner of eye. She held the mug in both of her hands which were resting in her lap before taking another sip. The tea tasted really good even without sugar or honey and it smelled just lovely. Every time Lapis pressed the cup to her lips and smelled the liquid, its aroma ran through all her senses – it felt so refreshing and mind-easing.

   The desire of wanting to go closer to Lapis was occupying her stomach. She so wanted to finally let go of Greg, of Rose… Though it was so hard, and she knew she can’t stay like this forever. She has Lapis now.

   She sighed and let her body fall against Lapis’ lightly, resting her head on the smaller girl’s shoulder.

   “What is it, kitty?” Lapis put the cup down in her lap, placing a soft kiss in Pearl’s peach hair.

   “It’s nothing.” She shook her head a little, whispering. “I’m just really glad you’re here with me.”

   Lapis sighed with a smile. “Me too.” She said and wrapped her arm around Pearl’s shoulders, pulling her closer.

   “… Thank you.” Pearl snuggled to her, perceiving the comfort of closeness between them. “Thank you for everything, Lapis… Huh, what would I do without you?”

   Lapis thought, but let a brief silence fill the room before Pearl continued.

   “I… I’d really like to move on, but…” Her eyes closed and an exhale left her, her arms were wrapped around Lapis waist then, and Lapis squeezed her in her arms a bit firmer to make Pearl know that she was there for her, putting the cup on the table before doing so.

   "It’s hard… She meant a lot to me, you know. It’s just difficult to let go… To forget.” Pearl nearly whined.

   “I know, sweetie.” Lapis nodded faintly, sympathetically listening to her girlfriend. She knew that Pearl needed time, but she was determined to help her no matter how long it could take. Looking at Pearl drowning in her emotions was making Lapis’ stomach twist uncomfortably. “I don’t know what exactly was between you and Rose, but… I think that you deserve to move on. It just makes me feel bad watching you so distressed and without any idea how could I help you... I don't want you to suffer, Pearl. You don't deserve it.” Lapis admitted and exhaled sorrowfully, thinking. “It was hard for me, too, when my mom passed away… And it took me so long to get over it.”

   “Oh… Lapis.” Pearl murmured, realizing that she wasn’t the only one whose heart was aching, that Lapis knew exactly what pain she could feel. But this was even worse, because he was her mother, the one who raised her and was taking care about her the whole life.

   “It’s okay.” The girl smiled a little, tilting her head, so she could get a bit closer to Pearl, or at least have that feeling. “But how I felt back then, it was... Horrible. I can't imagine going through that again. But I know that you're strong, Pearl, and I know you can let go just as I did. I know it takes time, but believe me, you'll feel much better then. And though..." Lapis finally smiled. "I’ve got  _you_  now, and now I have no reason to be sad... Because you're here, with me... And that's what really matters to me.”

   It opened wide Pearl’s eyes. She turned her head upper towards Lapis. She was smiling beautifully down at her, scanning her turquoise eyes closely, letting Pearl’s hair flutter a little as she was breathing through her nose.

   A new wave of hope washed Pearl immediately. She realized many things, and though yet long ago. She realized that the real happiness in her life was Lapis, giving her hope, and Rose, only causing her heart hurt. Pearl didn’t want this to be this way. She wanted to feel free, liberated, to finally live her own life uninhibitedly, with Lapis – her sun, her everything, the one who truly cared about her and loved her back the same way.

   “Yeah.” Pearl nodded faintly, a little tear decorated the corner of her eye. She snuggled to Lapis, cheeks bright red. She sighed then, thinking for a little moment. ‘ _… Rose is gone, but Lapis is here… Who is worth living for? The one who makes me cry? Or the one who makes me smile?_ ’ Pearl asked herself, although the answer was certainly clear. ‘ _I gotta let go. For both of us._ ’ She said to herself resolutely, lifting her head up to see Lapis’ face once more. One of her hands found its place on Lapis’ freckled cheek and stroked it with her thumb gently. Her eyes met Lapis’, she looked deep into them, seeing pure love and profound understanding, kindness and beautiful light, a new future. ‘ _I love her so much… I'm choosing her._ ’ Pearl decided, eyeing Lapis closely, realizing how enchanting she was, how beautiful eyes she had, a stunning smile which was like a drug for Pearl, a remedy, making her hanker for it and never let go of it, because that was the only thing that always made Pearl feel better and kept her alive.

   Her lips were pressed to Lapis’ ones then, lightly, giving an extra care into the kiss and letting a tiny gasp escape Lapis’ mouth later on. ‘…  _Goodbye, Rose_.’ Pearl closed her eyes. She pressed her lips harder on the girl, running her hand into her blue hair and tugging her yet closer. Her other hand soon followed and suddenly her body grew heavier on Lapis. The small space between them was slowly getting tighter and tighter, and so it made the ragdoll escape right on time before it could get squashed between them.

   Lapis murmured something into the kiss which Pearl couldn’t recognize what it was because of her concentration. The blue-haired girl's eyes were wide in surprise. She had to support herself from falling aside to the mattress, but although Pearl’s body was very light, Lapis couldn’t hold both of them on her hands for too long.

   Her arms suddenly buckled and they both appeared lying on the couch. Lapis almost couldn’t catch her breath, because this whole time Pearl didn’t allow her to do so. She was kissing her deeply, giving special care into every kiss given to her, silently gasping for more while butterflies in Lapis’ stomach were performing acrobatic tricks and her eyes rolling backwards in delight.

   “P-Pearl.” Lapis tried, pulling Pearl gently away at least to speak. “What’s the matter?” She let out in chuckle.

   “Oh, s-sorry. Maybe I let myself be carried away a little.” She chuckled nervously, looking away and eventually trying not to get embarrassed too much.

   “Oh, I see.” Lapis grinned, lying still on her back and watching Pearl as she was lying on her body.

   It was always so special to Pearl – every time they connected, it felt like they were two pieces of puzzle and were fitting perfectly when the joined. Pearl loved that, and so did Lapis.

   “I just…” Pearl thought. There were many words occupying her mind, but she wasn’t able to formulate any logical sentence as she realized that she's never actually been like this, better said lying on Lapis like that. “I, I…”

   Lapis giggled to herself, trying to bite back a smile. Pearl was just so adorable, especially when her cheeks weren’t obedient.

   She took Pearl’s cheeks into her hands then, gingerly, and locked their lips together once more. The mush of words inside Pearl’s head then instantly fell into pieces, like if a cloud of sandstorm fell to the ground and there was nothing in the sky but beaming sun. Her mind eased, such as her tensed muscles, and her eyes flutter closed.

   She knew she chose the right person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis stayed at Pearl’s place  
> • Lapis met Pearl’s cat  
> • Pearl decided to let go of her previous crush and start off a new path
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Saturday night)
> 
>  **PS:** It's been way too long without posting anything and I'm mad at myself a little because of that, because I thought that I'll finally have a bit more time, but it seems like it's quite the opposite… :D I have to admit that I had no big inspiration so far, so I can't say that I'm for 100% satisfied with this chapter. Also that's the reason it took me so long to finish it. :C I rewrote it twice, but it's still not what I wanted I guess. T__T Though I hope you guys liked it at least a little bit more than me. :'3  
>  Enjoy your summer holidays! ^w^  
> Love~


	30. It Happens

  A digital watch standing on the cabinet next to the sofa showed 5 AM as Lapis wearily rose her head to check the time. This was the time she was usually getting up and getting ready for another day full of working in the stable. But today was the exception, she decided.

   Lapis sighed happily. A large smile appeared on her lips as this was the first time she could afford to sleep a bit longer than usually. She loved that idea, in fact this reality.

   As she was lying on her belly, supporting herself with her elbows, she realized how comfortable it actually was in these duvets, lying on this soft mattress without any worries was making Lapis want to fall asleep again, although usually during this time she was brisk and full of new energy, ready to spread it all around.

   Lapis looked ahead, watching shut curtains through which were only a few stripes of light breaking in. It was dark inside, but not as dark as she couldn’t recognize the surroundings.

   Her gaze slid down from the wall to the floor briefly, listening how quiet it was all around, although this apartment was placed nowhere else than in the middle of a busy city. Watching the interior so quiet and peaceful, Lapis wished for waking up in a place like this more often, though the stable noises were never a big deal to her while waking up.

   Lapis scanned several more things which caught her attention during darting her eyes round the room when she ended up looking down at the girl sleeping right next to her.

   She was lying on her front, too, with one arm tossed over her head and the other one hidden under her chest.

   Lapis hummed merrily to herself and with a soft huff she laid her head down in pillows again, watching Pearl as she had no idea about Lapis being awake and smiling at her, as her chest was widening while inhale and lowering while an exhale.

   She was really cute, Lapis thought, noticing one of Pearl’s undershirt’s shoulder straps has fallen from her shoulder slightly. Lapis lifted her hand slowly and helped the strap back up, touching Pearl’s skin very lightly and making her shoulder jolt a little at the contact of Lapis’ fingers.

   There was a silent chuckle which Lapis wasn’t able to bite back. She blushed faintly, looking at Pearl and how the activity of her body intensified after giving that strap back. Pearl started shifting her body and moving her fingers as her arm was still hanging over her head. Sometimes she moved her leg or the other, pouted or wrinkled her nose as if something tickled it. But she was quiet all the time, not knowing about anything that was happening around her, sleeping peacefully.

   Lapis couldn’t describe how happy she was. She never felt such a pleasant feeling in her stomach. This was a joy, a pride, she was so glad that Pearl was finally able to move on, although both of them knew that years of sorrow couldn’t be forgotten after just one night. It will take time, but this first step had been finally made and from now everything will go easier. Lapis knew it, she could feel it deep inside. She believed in Pearl, she knew she’s strong, and Lapis knew she can do it. Lapis was surprised herself how quickly Pearl got used to the horses and that she even offered Lapis help with cleaning stalls. Such warming, exhilarating feeling.

   Lapis smiled to herself, eyes half-closed. Her eyes fell to Pearl’s lightly parted lips, white teeth shining through them. She was murmuring something softly, but not enough recognizable for Lapis to say what it was. So Lapis just lied there, for a few more minutes, trying to solve the enigma and mysterious words falling from Pearl’s mouth until she found herself falling asleep again.

 

   Lapis woke up to a quiet sound of water streaming down which was coming from the bathroom door at her feet. She listened to it until she noticed the water stopped drumming after several minutes.

   As she was lying on her side, turned towards the wall, she blinked off the mass from her eyes. Gently she ran her hand through her short cyan hair, smoothing it against the back of her neck with a quiet sigh. The girl cleared her throat softly and forced herself to turn on her back then. She was cautious not to hit Pearl with her arm as she was turning over, but noticed that the girl wasn’t there. ‘ _Oh, of course_.’ She chuckled to herself, realizing that Pearl was actually using the shower.

   Lapis yawned softly and stretched her arms above her head to wake up her muscles. She also stretched her legs, like if she was making a snow angel. She exhaled at the comfort she had, these soft covers and puffy pillows were just so delightful to lie in. She couldn’t remember when she managed to sleep so well recently. Suddenly she started to feel a desire to fall asleep again, but the sound of a door cracking open and light footfalls kept her eyes open.

   “Look who’s awake.” She could hear a honey-sweet voice. Pearl was grinning at her as she was approaching the sofa on which Lapis was lying. “… Our morning bird.” With a soft chuckle she sat down beside the girl, placing her hands on each side of her body and supporting her own.

   Lapis rolled her eyes, however she smiled, a light blush spread along her cheeks. “Morning.” She murmured, voice a bit hoarse because of the long sleep. She perceived Pearl getting closer and leaning against her elbows, their chests slightly touching.

   The ends of Pearl’s hair were wet and also the roots around her face, Lapis noticed, and she smelled so beautifully, too.

   “Good morning, sweetie.” Pearl whispered, staring deep into Lapis’ eyes before she could feel her tanned arms being wrapped around her neck.

   “You smell just so lovely.” Lapis admitted, speaking slowly, keeping her voice low. She ran her fingers through Pearl’s hair and brushed through it softly, combing it towards Pearl’s nape.

   Pearl blushed a little, the gentle pressure of Lapis’ fingers made chills ran down her spine. She cleared her throat and shook the feeling off, but her cheeks remained red. “Did you sleep well?”

   “Like never before.” She confessed, faint grin on her face. “Wish I could sleep here more often.”

   Pearl giggled at that. She guessed that sleeping on hay every day probably wasn’t as comfy as she thought, and not even healthy. It was hardly imaginable for her to live like that, although Pearl really liked sleeping in the attic. It was prettily cozy in there.

   “You’re always welcome to stay.” Pearl offered and gave Lapis one small kiss on her lips.

   It rolled Lapis’ eyes backwards, although the pressure of her mouth was very light, but Lapis returned the kiss right after before Pearl could pull back even an inch.

   Pearl hummed happily, smiling at the starlight in front of her, looking back at her. Pearl found herself lost in the depths of Lapis’ eyes, searching for air bubbles, for daylight, unable to reach the surface. She felt like if a siren song overwhelmed her mind and kept her down, stuck in deep waters, floating between streams. Her breath slowed down, as if it was freezing in her lungs, slow like a poison streaming through her veins. She was closing her eyes. She started leaning towards Lapis, letting a breath escape her parted lips. Their lips gingerly joined once more. They were changing kisses more delicately, gingerly, letting soft smacks and gasps fill the room as they kissed.

   Lapis lost her breath, though Pearl’s was the one filling her lungs. Pearl was kissing her really cautiously, Lapis noticed, gently, like if she was afraid of breaking her if she pushed any harder, but Lapis loved that. She’s never been kissed so finely, so tenderly by anyone before. She could do nothing but enjoy every time she had an opportunity.

   “Ummh… Mhuh.” Pearl groaned into Lapis’ mouth as she pulled Pearl deeper against her lips, holding Pearl by her jaw and neck with her hands. She tasted her lips, inch by inch, and even dared biting Pearl, lightly enough so it wasn’t any painful but rather teasing.

   “Uhh.” Pearl gasped silently. “Mm-Lapis.”

   “Aham?” Lapis smirked, clasping Pearl’s lip between her teeth and stretching it.

   “S-stop biting… Me.” She pleaded while being nibbled on her lip, although she quite wanted the opposite to happen, though her cheeks betrayed her on sounding convincing.

   Lapis sniggered at her pleading and bit Pearl once more. “Make me.” She teased, because she honestly wanted to see Pearl try.

   Pearl had no idea what should she do, so she was simply waiting for Lapis to act. And once Lapis tried to get near and bite again, Pearl managed to bite Lapis sooner than she could.

   “Ouch! Hey.” Lapis frowned. Immediately she ran her finger over her lips like if it would relief the pain. “How dare you.”

   The girl above her smirked victoriously, raising her chin up proudly. She leaned back and straightened her back, looking down at Lapis.

   “You’re gonna pay for that, I’m telling you.” Lapis threatened. She sat up, too, in effort to grab Pearl by her hand and pin her against the couch, but Pearl was quicker and managed to escape Lapis’ clutches right on time. She ran around the table with Lapis snatching after her. But as Pearl guessed, she wasn’t able to run anywhere far, because her apartment was way too small to escape from Lapis.

   She ended up in the kitchen where she was backed up in corner.

   “You won’t escape from me now.” Lapis declared as she was slowly closing the space between them.

   Pearl tried to slip out from Lapis’ spread arms which were approaching, but before Pearl could do so, Lapis’ hands were slapped against the kitchen unit, Pearl imprisoned in between them.

   “Any last words?” Lapis murmured, scanning Pearl’s expression little by little as she was leaning closer, ready to strike, teeth shining bright at Pearl, and though Pearl should look rather fearful of possibly anything that could happen, she grinned confidently instead and made Lapis insecure about the following events.

<•••>

   It took Lapis a while before she could get out of the ecstasy caused by an extreme amount of sweet kisses from Pearl. She caught herself heading wrong direction at least twice while making her way back to the stable. The world around her seemed like it was faintly rippling, like a mirage, like a boiling air quivering above hot road while being melted by summer sunrays. Everything was so bright, the air was pleasantly warm and birds were softly singing their songs while jumping from one branch to another, people were chatting in the streets as Lapis was passing them. Although everything was on its usual place as every single day and night, it suddenly seemed all… Brighter and happier. It was such a joy for Lapis to breathe, to close her eyes as she walked or let the wind brush her hair and make it flutter in the air. Simply put, everything was absolutely perfect and beautiful. When for the last time was Earth such a peaceful place?

   Lapis finally arrived to the stable, almost making herself thrust into the wall when walking through the doorway. There were a few people inside, she noticed. Or was is actually one person and their illusions applied all around? Lapis wondered.

   “There you are!” Lapis caught, though quite muffled. She walked further, passing a few stalls before she realized that the voice belonged to Peridot.

   “Where were you, you chump?” The blonde snapped Lapis out of her thoughts, however she kept that foolish, enchanted grin on her face.

   ”Um, hey.” She greeted, rubbing on her eye wearily like if she just woke up. “I was… With Pearl.” Lapis clarified. Just the mention of her name made small golden bells ring in her ears and her heart flutter.

   “Guh, of course.” Peridot rolled her eyes, hands placed on her hips in annoyance. “Now where’s your phone? Why weren’t you answering it? Greg was here and was looking for you for fucking sake everywhere. We were worried something happened to you.” She reproached.

   “Uh, w-wait…” Lapis tried to put everything together, shaking her head slightly and massaging her forehead, but guessed it took her too long, because Peridot cleared her throat in effort to get her attention again. “What-what time is it?” Lapis rubbed the top of her head, wondering.

   “It’s _noon_ , Lapis!” Peridot spread her arms like if to put an extra meaning into it. “You should’ve been here six hours ago.”

   “Oh…” Lapis froze for a moment, her pupils shrank tiny. Suddenly it felt difficult to remain in that delightful state she’s been in the last few hours. “Gosh, it’s just a few hours, Peridot… It happens.” Lapis shrugged it off, but the feeling inside her guts started turning into less pleasant one.

   “Jesus, then keep your phone with yourself at least!” The smaller girl exhaled, running her hand through her blonde hair. “Hey, I know that Pearl was a mess yesterday, but at least send someone a message next time if you’re not coming.” She asked, her voice turned calm then, as if a relief overcame her. “… Is she okay though?”

   “Um, yeah.” Lapis nodded faintly, hands crossed on her chest – the one habit she couldn’t get rid of. “She’s fine.”

   “Good to hear.” Peridot sighed softly. “Blue’s grazing by the way. She’s groomed, too.” The girl proclaimed, pointing her thumb behind herself, towards the rope-fenced area ahead of the stable.

   “Oh… Thanks.” Lapis blushed, looking away, eyebrows furrowed as she felt a bit regretful for being late.

   “Don’t thank me. Opal took care of her.” Peridot declared, heading to the horse which was standing in the middle of the hallway with a lead rope clipped to its halter and tied up in a safety slip knot to a stall bar, so the horse couldn’t get away while being groomed.

   ' _Opal's been here? Man, I haven't seen her in a while._ ' Lapis thought for a moment, later on wondering where her phone could be. Likely she left it in the attic – well, in the best case.

   So Lapis headed there and gently grabbed the ladder in her hands, freezing for a second or two. She remembered Pearl climbing up the ladder several weeks ago. It turned her cheeks red immediately as she imagined those graceful movements, though she wasn’t supposed to look at her from below, but… ‘ _Whatever…_ _It happens._ ’ Lapis bit her lip and shook those images off before she finally decided to continue upper.

   The attic looked exactly as Lapis left it but a few bales of straw missing from Lapis’ hand-made front wall. She started off with pillows, but below them she only found her diary. She tried her luck searching in the tangles of her blanket, but neither the phone was there. She turned every blade of straw upside down, she checked all the shelves, but only a box of gluten free brownies was lying there. She decided that the phone should’ve been downstairs, so she slid down the ladder and searched in the barn first. She slipped into the storage, scanned every bucket, every box and shelf, but no luck there either. She then entered the feed room which was right under the attic, because it already happened several times that her phone slipped through the wooden floor of the attic right into a bucket with oat before. It still kept Lapis amazed how that was even possible. Still, not a single sign of her phone.

   Lapis pouted, one brow furrowed. The tack room was the next option then, she decided. She walked through the corridor. On that occasion she patted the horse which Peridot was grooming and also stole one apple from the bucket standing nearby.

   “Hey, put that back!” Peridot barked, but part of the apple was already bitten off and Lapis’ middle finger risen as she was entering the tack room on the end of the stable.

   The tack room was one big pile of mess, at least for Lapis. Yes, every saddle and bridle was on its place, hooked on long metal racks and pegs, but everything around it was making the room look like a junkyard. There were cans with lubricants and oils for leather surfaces, rags, cleaning supplies, such as hoof picks, brushes and combs which should’ve been in storage and certainly not in this room, ear nets, saddle pads and many other things which Lapis couldn’t even recognize because of this massive amount of items.

   ‘ _How am I supposed to find my phone in here?!_ ’ Lapis panicked, almost choking up with the piece of fruit inside her mouth. She swallowed it down and took a deep breath. At least those apples were cut in half, so Lapis could eat it quite quickly and start off with searching again. Those sweet juices somehow made Lapis feel like she obtained an extra point of energy, which definitely came in handy at that moment. So she walked through the room to the other end and started there, searching in boxes, checking all shelves, cabinets, raking through the hills of things all across the table, searing high and low, checking up the area where Blue’s tacks were and…

   “Eureka!” Lapis exulted as she found what she was looking for. She pulled the phone out off a small leather bag which was attached to Blue’s saddle. There were several more things inside, too – hopefully not any spoiled food.

   Lapis checked the screen to see if there were any missed calls. There were five in the final count and two messages, she noticed – three calls from Peridot, two calls and one message from Greg and the last message was from Pearl.

   ‘ _Would it be foolish if I opened Pearl’s message first?_ ’ Lapis pouted, inconspicuously glancing over her shoulder if someone was watching, but fortunately the room was empty-handed but her inside.

   She sniggered to herself and tapped the most recent received message – Pearl’s one. It read: “ _Take care on your way back. Love you, sweetheart._ ”

   Lapis caught herself blushing while reading it. She tried to get rid of the redness spreading across her cheeks by shaking her head, though she knew it won’t work even if she tried her best.

   She launched the typing box and started cautiously tapping letter by letter, taking an extra time to check if there were any grammar mistakes to fix, plus adding several kissing emojis at the end of the message, then sending it off.

   Then there was a message from Greg, urging Lapis to call him whenever she’s free, so she scrolled down her contacts and dialed his number. The phone rang at least ten times, making Lapis wonder if Greg will manage to pick it up before the dialing ends. But finally a man’s voice echoed there.

   “Oh, Lapis, hello!” Greg greeted. It quite sounded like he was in a hurry. “Is everything okay? I couldn’t get in contact with you anywhere.”

   “Yeah, uhh…” Lapis mentally kicked herself, rubbing at her eyes. “Man, I’m so sorry. I left my phone at the stable yesterday.”

   “Oh, I see… But that's okay. I'm glad you were able to call back.” Greg said calmly, but then there was a silence on the other side of the line for a while. “… How is Pearl?”

   Lapis swallowed, but only because she was a bit surprised by this question. “She’s… Okay. I guess.”

   “I’m glad to hear that.” He admitted, but his voice sounded yet less happy then. “Also, I’ve got a bad news.”

   “What happened?” Lapis asked curiously, turning towards the door and walking out the room.

   “It’s just…” The man sighed, making a brief pause before continuing. “I won’t be able to make it to the stable the next two days, Lapis. Do you think you can make the training on your own?”

   Lapis wanted to exhale. A disappointment overwhelmed her right away. It was such a discomfort skipping all these trainings, like if the Grand Prix meant nothing whatsoever. They had very little time, Greg was always away, Lapis wasn’t able to keep her phone with herself and neither could they agree on any possible date to meet.

   Though Lapis swallowed down the exhale which was bubbling in her throat, because she was actually the one because of whom yesterday’s training was canceled. “Yeah… Of course.” Her head dropped disappointedly, just as her smile.

   “I know we’re losing a lot of time like this, but I’ll try my best to get to you as soon as possible. I’m giving you my word.” Greg promised. “Grand Prix isn't just something we can shrug off, but I’m sure we can do it… That you can do it, Lapis.”

   “… Yeah.” Lapis sighed softly to herself, running her hand through her hair, brushing her bangs back.

   “Now I gotta pay the blacksmith, buy new oat and deliever the two horses we bought from Andy two days ago… You know me. Lots of things going on.” Greg chuckled, but sounded a bit nervous somehow. “And also… Uh…  I’m sorry for yesterday, though. But don’t worry, we’re gonna get things back in order.”

   “Yes. Sure.” Lapis nodded, not actually paying too much attention to what he was saying. She left the stable and headed towards the grazing meadow spreading in front of her.

   “Thanks for your call, Lapis. I’ll see you in a few days.”

   “Yeah. Looking forward to it.” Lapis half-smiled, though she’d rather turn that smile upside down. She stopped walking.

   “Me too.” Lapis heard. She could sense a grin on Greg's face, too. “So, see you soon, Lapis. Take care.”

   “See you.” The girl closed her eyes, and as the other side of the line went dead, she finally let that exhale out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis walked from Pearl's place to the stable  
> • Lapis was searching for her phone
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Sunday)


	31. On My Own

   Lapis stared at the hill towering in front of her. There were horses, grazing without any worries, without any responsibilities or duties. They didn’t have to deal with any problems, didn’t have to worry about food or getting cleaned, because there was always someone who’d take care of them eventually.

   She stepped forward, taking a few steps before she got to the gate and opened it. She entered the grazing area and walked atop the hill where the maple tree was standing. She saw Blue grazing along with a few horses nearby, but her mare didn’t seem to notice her owner. Lapis linked her thumb and forefinger together and pressed them against her lips.

   A loud whistle filled the air and several horses below the hill raised their head, including Blue, because she was practically the only one that was called this way. As she saw Lapis she immediately headed towards her, trotting excitedly up the hill.

   The realization that Blue was as happy to see her owner as Lapis did her, made the girl smile. She decided to head down towards her horse and greet her.

   “Hey, girl.” Lapis grinned, stretching her arm towards Blue’s dark muzzle which immediately connected with her. “Sorry for being late.” Lapis apologized, but it seemed like Blue didn’t care about this fact that much.

   Since Greg wasn’t coming today and there were plenty of hours until the sun sets down, Lapis decided that she and her mare had many important things to do. But first, Lapis took herself and Peridot for lunch, then had a brief break and then helped clean the rest of the horses. And since today was one of the hottest summer days, they decided to shower the rest of horses remaining in their stalls, too, and send them to the meadow to graze and dry.

   All that took several hours before it was all done, but finally Lapis could afford to spend some time training. So she headed back for Blue and took her to the stable where Lapis removed the mud from her hooves and tacked her up, making sure that every strap was perfectly secured. She also changed her pants and slipped her feet into pair of riding boots, so the riding would be comfortable. Lapis honestly loved shorts, but combining shorts and leather saddle was the worst option she could undergo. She was never going to make the same mistake again, especially in summer.

   While taking their way to the indoor arena building, Lapis managed to steal a few apples from the same bucket as before without anybody noticing. She took one for herself and two for Blue. They got outside the stable, walked around it and entered the riding arena.

   The huge double-wing door was wide open and a child’s titter could be heard as Lapis entered the hall. She noticed a woman standing on the right end of the arena, holding a lunge in her left hand and in her right hand she held a lung whip. A horse was circling around her and the rope, which was attached to horse’s bridle, was stretched enough to make only a small arc. The animal was slowly trotting and carried a child on its back and the child certainly seemed excited about it, Lapis thought. She smiled at them from the distance as she watched them.

   “Ah, Lapis! Hello.” The woman suddenly called. She also wanted to wave, but realized she was not empty-handed.

   “Opal, is that you?” Lapis narrowed her eyes, only to reassure her eyesight it really was her. “Heck, I haven’t seen you in millennia!” She expressed and squeezed Blue’s sides, trotting towards the woman with blond ponytail tied up on the back of her head.

   “Same, same.” Opal grinned. She continued leading the horse with an occasional glance at Lapis.

   “How was the Europe Cup vaulting, woman?” Lapis asked and stopped as she considered the mutual distance between both horses as optimal.

   “Hey, got fifth place.” The woman said, but didn’t sound much happy, though.

   Lapis’ brows rose curiously. “Individuals?”

   “Yeah.” Opal nodded, but gave her attention to the kid for a moment.

   “Well, that’s not bad, is it?” Lapis shrugged.

   “Ah, it could be better.” Opal forced a sigh, but a small smile appeared on her cheeks. Once again she turned to the kid. “We’re now going to change the direction, okay?” She told the child and asked the horse to stop. The little girl nodded quickly and it seemed like her smile even brightened after that. Opal walked to the horse, clipped the snap hook to the right side of the bridle and turned the horse around. She then walked back to the center and made the horse trot again. “Though I heard you won the World Cup. Is that true?” She asked Lapis.

   “Um, yeah.” Lapis blushed. She wanted to scratch the back of her head, but realized she couldn’t do it because of the riding helmet. “First big gold.”

   “Congratulations then.” Opal bowed slightly.

   “Thanks.” She smiled shyly. “And now hurray to the Grand Prix!” She threw her hands into the air, but the smile on her face rather turned into a nervous chuckle.

   Opal frowned slightly. “Grand Prix?” She turned to Lapis. “Isn’t it… Too soon?”

   “Not for Greg… Obviously.” She slowly put her hands down, but wasn’t able to look at Opal for some reason.

   “What do you mean?” The blond woman glanced over at Lapis for a second.

   “It’s just this, uh… Greg…” She started, trying to formulate what she wanted to say. “He just appeared in the stable, God knows from where, at some random hour, and notified me that he signed me to the Grand Prix this October.”

   It seemed like Opal froze for a moment. “ _This_ October?” She stared at the blue-haired rider. Her expression made chills run over Lapis’ arms. “Is he crazy? It’s within three months... Are you sure you can make it?”

   “Honestly…” Lapis’ shoulders rose, but froze as they were up, looking elsewhere but Opal. “… I don’t know.”

   “… Lapis.” She sighed heavily, her look turned worried. She wished she could just put the lunge down and go to Lapis to talk to her between four eyes. “This isn’t funny. Grand Prix is a competition based off of the highest levels of fences. It’s not difficult only physically, but psychically, too. You’re too young and inexperienced for this… No offence.”

   Lapis rolled her eyes, although she knew that Opal was right, and even Lapis herself was convinced that what she said was true. “… I know that.”

   Opal saw her sorrowful face, but couldn’t even get to her and comfort her. “Lapis… You should really talk with Greg about this.”

   Lapis bit her lip. ‘ _I already tried_.’ She sighed, her eyes went close for a while. She knew she had to talk to him, to tell him that she’s not ready. But he already paid the starting fee and signed her and her horse. There was no escape. She couldn’t just quit a few weeks before the competition starts. That was ridiculous. “I’ll talk to him.” Lapis said, although she knew she won’t. She forced a grin and tried her best to sound convincing.

   “You really should, Lapis.” The woman smiled at her, but neither her smile was convincing.

   “Yeah.” Lapis breathed in before she sighed. “Anyway, is the left side free?” She gestured towards the other side of the arena.

   “Sure. I’ll be done in a few minutes anyway. I can help you build the fences if you want.” Opal offered.

   “That would be sweet.” Lapis smiled, honestly this time.

 

   In less than thirty minutes they managed to build an acceptable jumping course. Opal reminded Lapis to talk to Greg about the competition, to which Lapis nodded as quickly as possible, simply because she didn’t want to talk about this topic.

   They said goodbyes to one another as Opal decided to leave because of her other duties. Also Lapis thanked her for taking care of Blue this morning and for helping her build the course. Opal saluted to that and left and Lapis started off with trotting poles to warm Blue up.

 

   An hour passed. Lapis cursed to herself because she didn’t even have a stopwatch to check her time average. But that didn’t matter that much. All that mattered was that she knocked down less than ten fences during the first hour. The upcoming hour unfortunately wasn’t that successful. She managed to knock down five poles within a quarter an hour.

   “Shit!” Lapis hissed through her teeth as another pole fell down. She kicked Blue’s flanks violently. “Come on, Blue. We gotta try _more_. We can’t give up yet.”

   Blue snorted, ears turned stiffly backwards. Running constantly for an hour was causing her losing her energy very fast. Also Lapis was slowly getting tired from dismounting to fix all the knocked obstacles and climbing back up repeatedly, only because there was no one around to help her fix them.

   And since nobody was there to coach her, she had to help herself – as usually. Besides she had to make it up to herself for yesterday, Lapis decided. So no matter how tired she was, she was going to give everything she had into it, even if blood came running from her nose and ears.

   Soon the world around became the familiar tangle of blurs, objects and surroundings were moving each in its own pace. And because there wasn’t any source of water nearby, it was getting worse and worse with Lapis' dehydration, but Lapis determinedly stood in stirrups, knees squeezing the knee roll firmly, heels being pushed downwards.

   Lapis was very bad at checking if she was breathing during riding, just like forgetting about checking the time which was practically the most common and worst habit she had.

   There was this sentence occupying her mind, the one that Opal said as she pleaded Lapis to talk to Greg about the competition. Lapis wasn’t for hundred percent sure about undergoing the Grand Prix, too, but that was one hour ago. Lapis was an adult and she had enough experiences in this branch, she though, so why couldn’t she try it? She wasn’t a kid anymore, she could do whatever she wanted and learn new things. No, she wasn’t coming back, she told herself. She’s taking this challenge, she’s gonna compete no matter what happens and nobody will stop her. From now on she’s taking the training extremely seriously. Lapis was determined to show and prove everyone that she’s got guts for this, that she was born for jumping.

   So she clenched her teeth and spurred Blue to run faster. They were jinking between fences, jumping over them, finishing and starting new round over and over again. Lapis started being rather irritated by knocking the poles down more and more often as she kept repeating rounds unless there were no faults, but unfortunately that never happened and it wasn’t getting any better, but quite the opposite.

   “Fucking… Ugh!” Lapis cursed, tugging the right rein sharply to the right to turn her horse and repeat the jump after she returned the pole to its place. These fences were high. She was used to smaller ones, but the Grand Prix fences were yet higher than these she had in front of her at that moment, so she couldn’t afford to lose any single one if she wanted to win.

   “–Lapis? Lapis, hello?” She heard someone calling in the middle of her train of thoughts, and after she jumped the last vertical, she noticed there was Peridot approaching her.

   “What?” Lapis frowned, wiping her sweat-stained forehead, directing Blue towards her friend.

   “God, please tell me you’re not like this since the last time I saw you today… Again.” Peridot prayed, but a hint of irony could be noticeable in her voice.

   “What if I am? Who cares?” Lapis simply shrugged that off. She’s already been through many situations like this one, so somehow she could sense that the usual life lecture from Peridot was coming to the topic any second, so Lapis turned around and headed towards the first jump of the course in effort to avoid giving Peridot an opportunity to say something smart, but unfortunately that failed.

   “Jesus fuck, are you serious right now?” Peridot shot back. “It’s been two hours! Stop that stupid ass of yours and take a goddamnit break. Can’t you remember the last time you blacked out here?”

   Lapis clenched her teeth and fists, trying to ignore her. Suddenly she could feel one of her eyelids twitching a little.

   “Can’t you hear me?” Peridot stomped, visibly irritated, hands put on her hips. “Get down from that horse and come here immediately! You shouldn’t risk your health like that and especially train when you’re tired.”

   “Aha, so now everyone’s a teacher, huh?” Lapis couldn’t help but burst into an ironical laughter. “Everyone is lecturing me and telling me what I should or shouldn’t do! And you know what? Fuck off! I don’t need your help.” She shouted, waving Peridot off and kicking Blue into her sides – surely they hurt after these kicks.

   It left Peridot speechless. She wasn’t expecting such fury from Lapis whatsoever. She could do nothing but let her mouth drop, but she was able to collect herself after several second. “But, like… Dude, do you seriously want to end up like your mother?”

   Lapis froze. Immediately an adrenaline ran through her body and she realized she was lucky she managed to hold onto her horse, because Blue slide stopped right in front of a fence and almost made Lapis fall over. After Lapis’ breath finally returned to her, she sat back into the saddle and straightened. She then slashed Blue’s buttock furiously with the whip she was holding and turned the animal around. “Don’t put my mother into this! She’s got nothing to do with it!” Lapis spat and prepared for jumping the obstacle once more, asking her mare to canter, but she noticed Blue refusing to obey her commands, so Lapis slashed her once again and this time yet more aggressively.

   “And what do you think was the reason she couldn’t make her horse jump the fence right then?” Peridot objected. And then immediately, at the same time, they both imagined the exact same moment – the one and only which was fateful for Blue Diamond, back in the past. Chills suddenly ran down Lapis’ body, just as Peridot’s, after catching a flash of image they saw on their own eyes five years ago.

   Lapis said nothing, forcing herself to fight off that nightmare-like memory, but failing.

   “Because she was overdoing her training!” Peridot continued her speech. “She was exhausted, Lapis. She was _sick_!”

   “That’s enough!” Lapis yelled, her voice visibly cracking, tears bursting out her eyes. “It wasn’t her fault!”

   “And whose fault was that then?” Peridot called. She could feel tears in her own eyes as well.

   “Go fuck yourself!” She cried. “Leave me alone!”

   “Lapis, listen, I just want to help you!” The girl explained. Her heart sank at the look at Lapis fighting the obstacles, knocking down poles one by one.

   She jumped the last fence of the combination she was taking, walking pass Peridot. “Then stop it!” She sobbed. “I don’t want your help… Not a help like this.”

   Peridot sighed sorrowfully. It was tearing her apart, because she knew exactly how this was going to end. She watched Lapis distancing from her and heading towards another combination. Peridot couldn’t help but let out another exhale, arms crossed on her chest like if in defense. “… You’re gonna hurt yourself one day… And hopefully I won’t be there to watch that.” She murmured, but no one could hear. She turned on her heels slowly and then left the arena, hoping for Lapis to end up okay.

 

   Lapis became very angry – angry with everyone and everything. A scream was choking her, she almost wasn’t able to breathe because of the huge lump in her throat. She couldn’t stop imagining what happened to her mother – how she was lying in dirt and nobody knew if she’ll survive until the next day. She remembered everything, every damned detail – how the whole arena went silent but mother’s horse whining in pain and limping around, her mother lying on the ground and stained with loam, with helmet cracked and fallen off, with her spine strangely twisted and head turned backwards…

   “Fucking, fucking hell!” Lapis cried from the top of her lungs. She made her horse stop and then let herself burst into tears. She undone her helmet and hurled it against the floor, letting the tears stream down her cheeks and sobs fill the room. She tried to wipe away the tears furiously, but never managed to stop them from spilling out from her eyes.

   She slipped down from the saddle, but her knees buckled and she fell down to the floor. She felt weak, she couldn’t even make herself stand up. She just sat there on the loamy surface, dirty, swallowing her cries and sobbing. Lapis wasn’t able to get rid of those horrific memories whatsoever. All of a sudden she realized how Pearl should’ve felt back then. It just wasn’t fair.

   Lapis had to get out of that place – immediately. So she took the last strength she had and stood up. It was hard, because her knees were buckling and she was all shaking, too, and Blue wasn’t in the best condition as well. She was sweating, a steam was coming from her coat as it was all wet and hot. Her legs were shivering, her nostrils and mouth were wide open, ears turned backwards, but at least Blue must have felt relieved that she wasn’t moving anymore.

   “Aw, Blue…” Lapis sobbed. She could feel very unpleasant feeling in her guts. She realized what she’s done and felt extremely ashamed of it. Because of her Blue looked like one big mess. “I’m… I’m so, so, so sorry.” She cried and hugged Blue around her neck tightly in an apology, but Blue did nothing – she was just glad she was able to stand.

   “I’m sorry, girl.” Lapis sniffed. She leaned back and took Blue’s cheeks in her hands, looking into her dark eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She murmured, and it was a good sign for her that Blue’s ears turned towards her and were no more turned backwards.

   Lapis led Blue back into the stable, but left her standing out her stall as she was untacking her and bringing the tacks back to their place. She then gave Blue a quick shower, dried her and cleaned her hooves before saying good night and heading towards the attic.

   It was already dark outside and the stable was empty-handed, expect for her and Peridot. Lapis walked pass the girl on her way to the attic, but said nothing. Lapis was still mad about what Peridot said, about the topic she brought up, so Lapis didn’t bother to talk to her after that nor even look at her as she walked by. However, Lapis heard Peridot murmuring something, probably some apologies or perhaps something about how dumb Lapis was, but Lapis’ mind was already somewhere else to think about what Peridot might say.

   Lapis tried to hide her tears welling in her eyes, though. She didn’t want Peridot to think she’s weak or possibly think whatever about her. So without saying any goodbyes Lapis climbed up to the attic, lit up the room with her phone before she found the lamp, which was basically a bulb hanging from the ceiling, to switch on. It was casting very low light, but at least Lapis knew where things were - it was enough for her.

   The stable light turned off, Lapis noticed, so her bulb was the only light source at the whole building. She also heard footsteps downstairs in the barn, inconspicuous and silent.

   “… Good night, Lapis.” She could hear Peridot’s voice from below, and she also sensed a lump stuck in her throat. “… I’m sorry.”

   Lapis remained silent. She didn’t want to answer. She practically had nothing to say, though there were thousands of words she wanted to spat at Peridot or maybe just punch her into her face.

   She simply sat there, perfectly still, and waited until she could hear quiet footfalls again, slowly vanishing in distance. Lapis heard a car engine being turned on, and as the car slowly drove away, the whole area drowned in a dead silence.

   Lapis sat in hay, cross-legged, staring somewhere into darkness, ignoring tears soaking her clothes as they were streaming down along her skin. She wished things could be the way they were, she wished none of this happened, wished for her mom to be there.

   A sob was bubbling in her throat, willing up slowly, but Lapis fought it off, shaking her head. She then turned around and reached out for the pillows lying behind her. They were lifted, Lapis carefully pulled her diary out from below them and laid the pillows back down.

   It was an old diary she owned, with bent corners and stained with several colorful blots, practically from times when she was learning to ride a horse for the first time. Since that day Lapis was noting everything and every day. She wrote about what she’d learned and whom she’d met, she wrote about what’d happened that day. She collected pictures of horses in there, a photo of her and her mother holding hands or photos where Blue Diamond held a big gold trophy that she won, a photo where she was standing in the middle of a sunflower field with her horse and was beautifully smiling.

   "Looks like I'm not over it after all…" Lapis sighed as she saw all those photos that were reminding her of all the great moments when her mother was still alive. She suddenly wanted to bring all those times back.

   She closed her eyes and imagined how beautiful it’d be if their family was all back together again, laughing, playing guitar while telling stories by a fireplace like they used to.

   But Lapis suddenly realized something and her eyes went open, her brows furrowed sorrowfully. ‘ _… What if none of that happened? Would I even meet Pearl then?_ ’ She wondered, but in the end she concluded that maybe things were okay this way. Perhaps this was a lecture, or one big chapter in her life, making Lapis certain that this book wasn’t by far finished just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis' friend Opal showed in the stable  
> • Peridot and Lapis had an argument  
> • Lapis was browsing through her diary and old photos
> 
> ♦ 11th week (Sunday)


	32. Then and Now

   It was 1 AM and Lapis still couldn’t make herself fall asleep. She was rolling from side to side, her eyes weren’t able to close because of the amount of tears welling in them.

   An old photograph she held in her hand, her watery eyes fixed on it, scanning over it little by little. There were sunflowers, a full field of them, a cyan cloudless sky and a woman with her horse standing between those beautiful golden flowers. The woman was smiling, her eyes were shining with joy, but yet with something that Lapis couldn’t recognize. Was it a doubt? A fear or perhaps worry?

   This photo was taken shortly before the accident happened – Lapis knew exactly where and at what time. It was 2 PM, down the hills where sunflowers were growing, where Lapis and her mother would take a ride with their horses, though it was a different horse Lapis was riding – Blue was yet growing in her mother horse’s belly back then.

   It was perfect, Lapis remembered, when they were racing together, crossing the fields with wind in their hair while the sun was beaming down on them, hooves drumming against the ground and leaving dust floating in the air far behind them. Lapis even remembered the day when Blue Diamond took her and their horses to the beach for the first time. Lapis loved that. She could still recall that day as it was yesterday – when they rode along the sea shore, leaving horseshoe prints in the sand and watching the sea as it was sweeping those footprints away and leaving no evidence behind while the red sun was slowly setting down behind the horizon of dark blue waters. They walked in the sea, riding their horses bareback, letting the salty water wash over their ankles and being caressed by the cool ocean breeze.

   Moments like those were irreplaceable, priceless and just… Perfect. But no one could take those times back nor replace them with others. Those days were over, though Lapis would do anything to bring them back.

 

   An hour passed, but not even lying on her front helped Lapis to fall asleep. She was tired, but at the same time she was not, and it was still pretty soon to get up and work. Everyone and everything was surely peacefully sleeping, not perceiving how slow the time was going for Lapis.

   The girl sat up slowly. She looked through the long dark hallway bordered with stalls. It was pretty silent there, though occasionally she could catch sounds of hay rustling in the distance.

   Lapis looked outside then. She heard crickets chirping there, nothing more, and nothing less. She wanted to go there. She wanted to go outside and feel cool grass between her toes. She wanted the kind breeze dry her tears, wanted to inhale the fresh evening air. She wanted to watch stars, since the sky was nicely clear and full of them. Sometimes Lapis wish the stars could talk, so she could speak to them and they would whisper back, tell stories and listen to one another all night.

   Stars always reminded her of Pearl – of the night when they first kissed. It was beautiful, Lapis recalled with a soft sigh and a faint smile. Pearl’s eyes shone brightly then, just as Lapis’. None of them could think about anything else but the kiss, blissful and divine, although innocent first.

   Lapis suddenly wanted Pearl to be there. She wished for her closeness, for her touch, her lips and the pleasant scent of herbs which she always brought with herself. She wanted to toy with her smooth peach hair, run her fingers through it and watch Pearl smiling as the touch would feel comforting to her.

   Lapis sighed, wiping the rest of the tears remaining on her cheeks. She decided to go outside. She returned the old photo to her diary, but before she closed it and hid under the pillow, she went through all the pages to the last one where a few recent things were noted. There were several articles about the Grand Prix competition, about the fear Lapis carried inside because of the fateful day unpleasantly, slowly closing in. However, there were several positive articles as well. Most of them read about Pearl and the days she and Lapis spent together. Re-reading them was so mind-easing for Lapis, and it always drew a smile on her face no matter for how many times she’d read them.

   Also there was something which caught Lapis’ attention – it was today’s date. It was 10th September already, which meant that Pearl’s birthday was within two days. It slightly alarmed Lapis, although she knew about this event quite long ago. But what disturbed Lapis the most was that she hasn’t exactly thought about any particular gift for her girlfriend just yet, though there was a bunch of ideas, but plushy teddy bear, bouquet or box of chocolates were quite inappropriate options, Lapis decided. She wanted to think of something else, something unique, something special, something that Pearl would appreciate, because she honestly deserved to be gifted with something extraordinary.

   So Lapis closed the diary then. She took a deep breath and headed downstairs, hoping that she’ll make out something good eventually. She had two all days, so she could practically spend them by shopping, though that would be definitely the last thing she would think about, because shopping was a total nightmare to her.

   Lapis climbed down without any hurry. She walked outside bare-feet. A few seconds later she reached the grass, perceiving its cool blades brushing against her toes, her heels and ankles. The air was quite warm, but was pleasant to breathe. Lapis found one perfect spot under a large tree standing next to the main driveway. She settled down under the tree and leaned her back against its trunk, crossing her legs underneath herself and putting her hands in her lap, fingers intertwined. She took a deep breath and listened to all the crickets around her.

   Millions, maybe billions of tiny stars were shining down at her, singing their silent song, floating somewhere in outer space – what a magnificent look it was.

   The stars were faintly twinkling, making Lapis’ eyelids heavy the longer she was watching them. She tried to count them, but fell asleep counting less than a half a hundred – finally she could peacefully close her eyes and have the rest she deserved.

 

   The day came by quite quickly. At 5 AM Lapis’ watch started beeping and woke her up, but she decided to sleep at least for one hour more, because three hours of sleep simply weren’t enough for her. Lapis also found herself still sitting under the tree. Maybe it would be better to head back inside before someone finds her there. So Lapis wearily rubbed at her eyes, slowly stood on her feet and went to the barn, continuing up to the attic. And though it was 5 AM, the weather was warmer than any day before, so it didn’t allow Lapis to cover herself with blanket, but she didn’t mind. Instead she let her knees bump against the floor, falling asleep immediately with face buried in hay.

   Her eyes opened again, but a bit later than she expected. She overslept one hour, she noticed. Now it was 7 AM and she couldn’t afford to sleep any longer – stalls were waiting for her.

   With a groan Lapis made herself wake up entirely. She climbed down with a yawn and entered the storage. Slowly she opened a closet and grabbed pair of clean clothes, then headed towards a small washroom on the outer side of the stable.

   Closing the old creaking washroom door was one thing, but locking it required strength – one could easily break their fingers, because it was just so hard to turn the key around, and for some reason when one wanted to lock the door, they must turn the key the opposite direction.

   Lapis put her head under the faucet and washed herself, both hair and face, she then filled her hands with water and drank it greedily – there was no time to waste. She filled her hands with water once more and splashed her face again, then took a towel and dried herself with it. She took the clean clothes and put them on, returning the used ones up to the attic, so later she could take it home and wash them clean.

   There was no time for breakfast either. Lapis did her best to cover only thirty minutes by getting herself ready, because she should’ve been working at least two hours already.

   There were a few people at the stable, already cleaning stalls and tacking up their horses. Lapis greeted each of them while passing, and each of them with less than three words. She didn’t bother to start any time-shortening conversation, she had a lot to do today. Now when Greg was nowhere near, she had to take everything in her own hands and spend her time wisely, because the Grand Prix was getting closer every second.

 

   Hours went by as Lapis worked, with picking used bedding from stalls with pitchfork and throwing it to the wheelbarrow she spent the entire morning and a bit of afternoon. She managed to do a great deal of work and as she considered her job done, she let a victorious grin spread across her cheeks.

   Two hours later she came back to the stable from shopping and hoped that the gift she bought will be satisfying enough for Pearl. Lapis really loved it herself, so she decided it must work. There weren’t many great ideas of gifts that popped up in her mind because of time chasing her, however, she was quite delighted with what she got.

   And finally she had some time for training, though the weather wasn’t any amiable but rather hot. Lapis decided to go easy then, having brief breaks to rest and drink enough water. She also decided to use outdoor arena for training instead of the indoor one, because the air inside was just too muggy and unpleasant to move in, not even mentioning breathing in there.

   Lapis took a box with cleaning supplies and entered Blue’s stall. Before she started clearing her mare’s hooves, she brought some oat and filled the trough inside the stall with it, making Blue busy while she was manipulating with hoof pick, but made sure Blue doesn’t eat too much before the training starts.

   After Lapis was done with hooves, she returned the box back to its place and brought Blue’s saddle in. She tossed it over the Hanoverian’s back along with the saddle pad and tightened the girth. Then she headed to the tack room for bridle and after giving the bridle to Blue, she was all set up and ready for a lesson.

   Lapis took Blue’s reins and led her out the stable, meanwhile she checked if her helmet was well done. As she did so, she then entered the outdoor arena. She put her left foot into stirrup and gracefully swung up to the saddle, settling in comfortably and straightening her back. Lapis pushed her heels downwards and with a slight move of her pelvis she asked Blue to walk, then trot and finally canter.

   For warm up exercises she was jumping smaller cross rail fences and which took her something about twenty minutes, then she went for higher ones and kept heightening them the longer they were practicing.

 

   Lapis checked her watch and after revealing that one hour already passed, she thought of having a quick break before continuing. But before that, there still were a few fences to jump, so Lapis narrowed her eyes and paid her maximum of attention to the couple of last obstacles.

   She clicked her tongue and kicked Blue gently in her flanks as the distance between them and the fence was appropriate. They departed up off of the ground, leaving particles of dirt behind them, flying through the air like an arrow and landing safely on Blue’s front legs. “Yeah! Come on, girl, keep going.” Lapis spurred joyfully, turning Blue towards another fence.

   Blue listened, ears turned back towards Lapis and obeying her commands. The mare felt left rein tugging her to the side and Lapis’ right foot pressing to her flank, leading her towards an oxer.

   The Hanover’s sides were squeezed right on time and made the horse jump over the obstacle, landing successfully on the ground and finally heading to the last fence.

   Lapis clicked her tongue once more, making her horse loose off the ground straight into the air. Lapis rose from the saddle and leaned forward against Blue’s neck, keeping her body balanced while rushing through the air, then leaned back as her horse flew over the fence to the other side. A bump of hooves could be heard as they hit the ground.

   “Yes.” Lapis waved her fist triumphantly in the air, cantering around, letting Blue slow down into her own pace.

   And all of a sudden Lapis caught someone’s hands clapping and calling from the distance. She turned towards the voice while cantering along the arena fence and found her lovely Pearl standing behind it, grinning from ear to ear.

   “Yeah! Good job, Lappy!”

   “Pearl.” Lapis’ eyes went wide. She felt her cheeks warming up a little and she was also quite surprised seeing Pearl here.

   “You did so great, darling.” Pearl kept clapping and her smile yet widened as Lapis directed Blue towards her and approached her.

   “Thank you.” The rider bit her lip, making her cheeks turn darker shade of red. She stopped her horse and slipped her feet out the stirrups, sliding down from the saddle and hit the ground.

   Pearl blushed slightly at the look at Lapis, at the look at her wet shirt which perfectly copied her abdomen muscles, losing her senses and forgetting to clap as Lapis was approaching her in a slow pace. “… H-hi.” Pearl swallowed nervously, realizing that Lapis already arrived.

   The blue-haired girl got to the wooden fence, reaching her hands over it and taking Pearl’s cheeks in them, scanning her beautiful light blue eyes. “Hi, love.” She said in a low, warm voice, giving Pearl one soft kiss on her lips. Somehow she sensed Pearl losing her breath - she found it so cute. “Wasn’t expecting you here this hour.” She admitted after checking her watch, realizing it was already quarter to seven. “What brings my girl here?”

   Pearl giggled, averting Lapis’ eyes briefly before she took her tanned hands into hers and slid them down along her neck, smiling. “You of course.”

   “Aww… My little sweetheart.” Lapis sighed through her nose, blushing slightly, letting herself be hypnotized by Pearl’s big eyes. “… How was your day?”

   “As usual.” The taller girl admitted, remembering all the things she’s done today. “I did some cooking, cleaning and shopping… You know me.”

   “Yeah.” Lapis chuckled briefly, finding herself lost in Pearl’s eyes once more, unable to escape from them.

   “… You-um, did so well today… During the training.” Pearl observed kindly after a moment of silence.

   A moment passed and Lapis managed to snap herself out of the enchantment, frowning a bit and thinking. “Wait, you’ve been watching me? For how long?”

   “Mm, half an hour it could be… You didn’t notice?” Pearl chuckled, astonished. “That’s why you seemed so surprised after spotting me.”

   “Uuuh…” Lapis’ eyes darted away embarrassingly, feeling guilty enough to let her face burn. ‘ _This is awkward_.’ Lapis swallowed, searching for words, but fortunately Blue disrupted their conversation by poking her head in – Lapis was saved.

   “Oh, Blue!” Lapis chuckled nervously, reaching her hand to pat the horse’s neck, avoiding Pearl’s eyes and trying to shade this awkward situation somehow. “There’s my girl.”

   Blue shook off the few flies flying around her head, then started nuzzling Lapis, stretching her lips and toying with her owner’s blue hair at the back of her neck, making it flutter as she blew hot air out her nostrils.

   Goosebumps ran down Lapis’ spine and she couldn’t escape from a shiver, which made Pearl giggle softly. Just the look at them was so amusing.

   But then Pearl noticed Blue turning her head towards her, making a quick flash of adrenaline run through her veins as the animal’s pitch-black eyes looked straight into hers.

   Blue stretched her neck towards the tall girl, scanning her carefully, sniffing, making a step closer to eye the girl closely.

   Pearl’s heart beat speeded up for a moment, but didn’t last too long as she told herself to remain calm. She slowly reached her hand and cautiously she brushed the tips of her fingers against Blue’s smooth nose, petting her for a while. It conjured up a smile on her face. “… Hey, Blue.”

   Lapis smiled to herself while watching them, watching Pearl getting braver and braver every day. She watched as carefully Pearl was while petting her Hanoverian with smile on her lips, seeing joy and no fear. “She really likes you.” She told Pearl, voice warm and honest.

   “I… Like her, too.” Pearl admitted, although a bit unsure, still paying respect to the great animal.

   Lapis hummed softly, still watching them both getting along very well – after these several months it was just so heartwarming.

   “Hey.” Lapis suddenly spoke, turning to Pearl with a light smirk on her lips. “Come in.”

   “In?” Pearl’s brows raised. She watched Lapis taking Blue by her reins.

   “Yeah, climb over the fence.” Lapis asked. She turned Blue away from the fence and waited for Pearl to come.

   Pearl, although having no idea what was going to happen, didn't hesitate and jumped over the fence happily, following Lapis further to the center of the outdoor arena. “What’s your plan?” She asked, smiling widely and not even guessing what could Lapis’ intention be.

   Lapis stopped and scanned Pearl briefly, from head to toes, then undone her helmet and handed it to the girl in front of her, cautiously, but poor Pearl didn’t quite get what was going on.

   “Why are you giving me that?” She asked, taking the helmet, but soon enough she realized she was probably doomed because of taking it.

   “I want you to try something.” She said and took Blue’s reins again, one hand placed on her hip, smirk on her face.

   Pearl froze instantly, almost dropping the helmet, eyes wide as dinner plates. “… It’s-it’s not… What I think it is… Is it?” She trembled, a bit terrified of Lapis’ response.

   “Oh yeah, babe.” Lapis chuckled, but lightly enough not to startle Pearl too much. “You’re gonna ride her.”

   “No… No. No, no, no. There’s no way.” Pearl shook her head violently, taking a step back.

   Lapis giggled softly and instead of a smirk, there was a comforting smile on her face. She let go of the reins and made a step towards Pearl, taking her hand gently. “Pearl, listen, I swear I wouldn’t put you into anything dangerous. Your safety is my priority and if something bad happened to you, I would never forgive myself.” She said honestly, brushing her thumb against the back of Pearl’s hand. “You’re a brave, young woman, Pearl. You’ve already proved that to me.” Lapis smiled yet wider during the speech. “… And I know you’re brave enough to do this. I believe you can.”

   Pearl swallowed hard. She really appreciated Lapis’ praise, however, she wasn’t that much comfortable with trying riding a horse just yet. Though she definitely didn’t want to let Lapis down – the one who truly believed in her since the beginning.

   “Lapis…” The girl let out a sorrowful sigh, eyes darting over to Blue and then back at Lapis.

   “Shh.” Lapis hushed her softly and stepped closer to the girl, taking her cheeks in her hands tenderly. “I’ll be there with you the whole time… You have nothing to worry about, trust me. I know you can make it.”

   Another sigh left Pearl and her eyes briefly turned away. She knew she could trust Lapis, but could she trust herself? She was scared, but she also found a part of herself that was telling her to try, and she was quite afraid to admit that she wanted to.

   “But… If you don’t want to… I won’t force you of course.” The equestrian finally said, although still hoping.

   Pearl wished for this option to be offered, but there was also something inside her spurring her, giving her a chance to prove herself that she’s not a coward.

   So she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, collecting all her will and trying not to let herself back out of it. “Okay, I… I’ll do it.” She bit her lip, eyes remaining closed.

   “Really?” Lapis blinked several times in surprise, watching her friend opening her eyes slowly.

   Pearl nodded faintly. She felt her hands slightly trembling. “B-but promise me that you’ll be there with me.”

   “The whole time, I promise.” Lapis assured her gently, she then took her riding helmet from Pearl’s hands carefully and put it on Pearl’s head, buttoning it under her chin. Pearl couldn’t help but closing her eyes until the helmet was done, hoping for not experiencing a heart attack or worse.

   “So, are you ready?” The smaller girl offered Pearl her hand.

   “... Let’s get this over with.” Pearl tried to joke, but her cracking voice kind of failed her.

   Lapis chuckled softly and took her girlfriend by her hand, leading her to Blue’s left side.

   Pearl followed slowly, trying her best to convince herself that everything's going to be okay, but her legs felt like they'll buckle any moment and stop her from getting further.

   “Okay now, watch what I’m doing.” Lapis asked.

   Pearl nodded quickly, rubbing her hands nervously together while Lapis stood next to her mare.

   “While I'm holding the reins, I turn my back towards her head, and then I put my left foot in the stirrup here.” She gestured for Pearl to know, then she put her left foot in. “Then I place my left hand on the pommel and grab the cantle with the other one, and then just swing up.” She explained and demonstrated later on, but didn’t sit in the saddle yet, just laid her abdomen on it for Pearl to imitate her later and get used to the height. “The saddle’s gonna slip under you a bit when you mount, but don’t worry about that, it’s well attached.”

   “Yeah, I already know that one.” Pearl chuckled, but released that information immediately because of Lapis’ butt pouting right in front of her, leaving her stunned. She swallowed, feeling a drop of sweat rolling down her forehead.

   Lapis chuckled, too, and continued in demonstrating without noticing Pearl staring at her the way she was. “So, now when I’m up here, I toss my right leg over her croup and sit up in the saddle. The last thing I have to do is to put the other foot into stirrup and… That’s pretty much it.” Lapis said, pulling the reins back to keep Blue standing, because she was used to walk automatically after Lapis mounted her. “So, are we ready to get on?” Lapis asked again, looking down at Pearl and noticing she was staring headless. “Pearl?”

   “Um, uh-yeah.” Pearl shook her head quickly to shake off the nasty images in her mind from seeing Lapis’ butt from this close. “I think I’m… ready. I think.” She finished a bit sheepishly, chuckling nervously.

   “Great.” The equestrian exulted and slipped down from the saddle after removing her feet from stirrups, still holding Blue’s reins. She turned to Pearl and offered her hand, smiling. “Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis remembered the times when her mother was alive  
> • Lapis bought Pearl a birthday gift  
> • Pearl was watching Lapis training  
> • Lapis demonstrated mounting a horse
> 
> ♦ 12th week (Monday)


	33. World Is Best Viewed Through the Ears of a Horse

   Once more Pearl swallowed, wondering why she actually let herself agree to this. She had hard times reassuring herself that nothing wrong was going to happen. Lapis promised her that. But for some reason the fear inside her didn’t let Pearl fully trust her promises. She was fighting that fear, trying to get control over it, yet it was difficult.

   She watched Lapis who was gently offering Pearl her hand, perceiving how soothing and warm her smile was, eyes loving and trustful. Lapis’ kind support held Pearl on her feet in these kinds of situations and Pearl certainly didn’t want to disappoint her, so she decided to undergo this. There was no way back. She had to do it.

   Pearl sighed softly, biting her lip, but accepted Lapis’ hand eventually. She let herself be led to Blue’s side, listening carefully to Lapis’ advice, though still she was watching Blue with a corner of her eye, ready to run away if anything unexpected happens.

   “Okay, so.” Lapis started and stood behind Pearl, taking her tenderly by her hips and making a gasp leave Pearl’s mouth. “Turn your back to her head.” Lapis asked and with a gentle push of her hands she turned Pearl to the right, so her back was turned towards Blue’s front. “Now put your foot in stirrup and then grad the pommel along with cantle. I’ll help you up.”

   Although Lapis’ support was really sweet, Pearl would rather recommend Lapis to watch her horse instead of her. She was quite distracted by the horse just standing there loose by itself. “Lapis, I really appreciate your support, but… Could you please hold your horse rather than me?” She asked bashfully, though she loved those hands pressing gently at her hips and the warmth they were spreading all over her skin.

   Lapis chuckled a little. “Don’t worry, she’s not going anywhere.” She said and spurred Pearl to grab the saddle.

   Pearl hesitated for a good moment, but she managed to put her left foot where it was necessary, grabbing the leather saddle. Meanwhile, Lapis walked to Pearl’s right side.

   “I’ll count to three and then you’ll swing up, okay?” Lapis told her and bent down, arms stretched and ready to take Pearl’s foot. “I’ll help you up.”

   “L-Lapis, wait, I…” Pearl stuttered, perceiving how badly her body suddenly started shaking. “I don’t know if… What if I can’t do it?”

   “Don’t worry, there’s nothing you can spoil. You can do this.” Lapis tried to cheer her up, hoping for Pearl to continue in mounting, but she stopped instead.

   “I…” She swallowed, feeling a drop of sweat rolling down her forehead and yet another one bursting out her skin.

   The tall girl froze and with a corner of her eye she studied Blue – her every movement, even those which the horse hasn’t done yet, imagining the worst options of events. “… I’m just… I… I’m afraid.” She nearly sobbed, perceiving her heart beat speeding up, feeling like if her heart wanted to jump out of her chest.

   “Sweetie, it’s okay. You’re doing just great.” Lapis fostered gently, speaking slow while looking up at the girl. “I’m here with you, don’t worry.”

   “O-okay. Okay.” Pearl nodded quickly, breathing deeply in effort to make herself focus, but her head rather started spinning after that.

   “So, are you ready?” Lapis asked once more, just to make sure.

   Pearl inhaled and her eyes went close, but she nodded. “Yes.”

   “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.” The blue-haired girl said, smiling at Pearl.

   For some reason this simple sentence heartened Pearl; her cheeks turned red. Suddenly she felt so determined, but this feeling left her as soon as she realized that there was a job to do. She prepared for the total change of her life.

   “One, two… Three.” Lapis counted and at ‘ _three’_  Pearl bounced off of the ground and laid her abdomen on the saddle – just like Lapis did before.

   Pearl was surprised herself that she actually did it, but what disturbed her one second later was Blue who started to move. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” Pearl panicked, squeezing the saddle violently. “Stop her, stop her!”

   “Don’t worry, she’s just balancing.” Lapis chuckled and made sure Pearl remained up and didn’t try to get down. “You’re almost there, hon, just toss your leg over her. I got your back.” Lapis said and spurred Pearl by patting her butt several times as she was hanging over the horse’s back.

   With a hard swallow Pearl turned red, biting her lip. “Holy God, please help me.” She closed her eyes and for a moment forgot about Lapis’ hand. ‘ _Okay, Pearl, you got this._ ’ She told herself and took a deep breath. It took her a while, she had to finish what she started – she couldn’t back out of this, certainly not at this moment. She was so close to success.

   She lifted her leg and tried to toss it over Blue, but for her misfortune her leg glued to Blue’s back as the leg was in the middle of its way. “La-Lapis… Please?”

   Lapis, quite distracted by Pearl’s butt, which was exactly at her eyes level, couldn’t make herself pay attention to Pearl’s words – which was in her case quite understandable. But the second time Lapis caught her name being called, she snapped herself out of the other reality she created in the back of her mind.

   “Um, yeah?” She blinked those images off, realizing that Pearl needed help.

   “Could you give me a hand?” She asked frantically, clinging to the saddle.

   “Uhhh… Yes, of course!” Lapis finally got to her senses. She stepped closer, pressed her hands at Pearl’s right thigh and pushed her leg so it slid down on the other side of the horse – Pearl was finally sitting, but still crouching and perceiving shaking sensation inside her guts.

   “There.” Lapis grinned, victoriously placing her hands on her hips.

   Pearl let out something between a laugh and whimper. Although she was glad she was finally up, she started to shake yet more than before. She stiffened. “I never thought mounting a horse would be this difficult.” She gasped.

   Lapis giggled at that and placed her hand on Pearl’s knee as the girl spoke again.

   “Can I go down now?” The taller girl let out shakily, eyes far away, although she was staring down at her trembling hands.

   “Down? You just got up.” Lapis chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s safe.”

   “I don’t know…” She swallowed, trying to get used to the height, but even after some time she still couldn’t. It was like if a black mass or something around her was blocking her to look around and enjoy the view. “I don’t understand how you can just… _Ride_ this thing, not even mentioning jumping over those high fences on it.” She gulped, briefly imagining herself doing so. She so wanted to close her eyes and pretend none of this was happening, but when she closed them it was rather worse than keeping them open. She felt so unsafe with nothing around her she could hold onto. There was just too much empty space all around and no solid ground under her.

   “Yeah, it took a lot of practice.” Lapis admitted, remembering all the falls and fractures, recalling the time she successfully jumped her first fence – she felt just unbeatable.

   The longer Pearl sat up there, the faster her mind blinders started revealing the world around her. There was too much space, she felt like if she was somewhere in outer space, free and alone with herself. Suddenly, and without even knowing, breathing became quite easy to her. Faint, pleasant shivers were tickling her from the inside; perceiving a brand new energy, a pleasure streaming through her body.

   Slowly Pearl straightened and dared to glance around carefully, seeing the world from absolutely different perspective than ever before. She let her fear slowly wash away, feeling warm breeze in her hair and evening sun shining down at her, soothing her. Suddenly Pearl felt so high, so high she could touch the sky with her hands. She felt like she could see so far, far away and yet behind the horizon of large fields in the distance, being illuminated by a golden sunset. She could do nothing but smile. She felt so happy, so uplifted and proud.

   “So, how is it, honey?” Lapis asked carefully, though she saw an enchanted smile on Pearl’s cheeks.

   Pearl sighed – but a sigh of a satisfaction it was. “It’s… Quite nice.” She said, but as if the word ‘ _quite’_ meant nothing – she still stared amazed at the horizon and orange clouds above them and enjoyed the view.

   “I gotta admit it really suits you up there.” Lapis grinned with a faint blush, getting Pearl’s full attention then.

   “Ah-hah.” Pearl chuckled nervously, averting her eyes from Lapis’. “Not as much as you.”

   “Aw, stop.” Lapis rolled her eyes, feeling her hands becoming sweaty for some reason.

   A brief moment of silence spread around them while Lapis was watching Pearl sitting on the horse – and she seemed quite calm to Lapis, too. “… Would my princess like to take a ride?” She then asked and took Blue’s reins – in case Pearl would agree.

   The tall girl’s eyes went wide in surprise. “What? Where?” She wondered.

   Lapis shrugged. “I dunno, ‘round the arena here.”

   “Are you… Are you sure?” Pearl’s stomach started forming into knots again once she imagined it.

   “Trust me.” Lapis smiled confidently and blinked at Pearl.

   Pearl could do nothing but grab the saddle firmly and stare at Lapis who was obviously determined to walk her horse around with Pearl on its back.

   “We’re gonna walk slow.” Lapis said, but Pearl couldn’t make out if that was directed to her or to the horse.

   “Just relax and enjoy the ride.” Lapis recommended and once she took the reins, she began to walk, Blue following her lead.

   Pearl’s heart jolted and her entire body shivered as she swung in the saddle along with the first step Blue made. ‘ _Holy God, holy God._ ’ She breathed out shakily, squeezing the saddle so violently she could pierce it with her fingernails.

   They walked slowly, just like Lapis promised, and with every next step Pearl’s body gently swung along with Blue’s. She really tried to enjoy it, but what was disturbing her were the swingy motions of her pelvis which she couldn’t control as Blue was walking. Pearl always wondered why Lapis was doing these movements while riding, she thought that Lapis was doing them in some kind of her intension while Pearl was around, but now Pearl understood that Lapis wasn’t doing them on purpose – it was just happening itself. Pearl didn’t know if she should feel embarrassed or amused because of these movements – somehow they seemed quite coquettish to her.

   Suddenly Pearl’s mind started projecting rather unsuitable images for this early evening hour, with Lapis playing the main role, making her breath stick in her throat and cheeks burn. Why was this happening right now?

   “How’s it going up there?” Lapis asked all of a sudden, snapping Pearl out of her shameful thoughts.

   “Huh?” Pearl shook her head quickly like if Lapis could see those images in it if she didn’t. “Uh… Good, I guess.”

   Lapis gave Pearl one smile as a response and turned towards the path she followed.

   It took maybe five minutes until they finished the round and Lapis decided that one round was probably enough for Pearl for the first time, so she pulled the reins back softly and turned up to Pearl.

   “We're finished.” She proclaimed, but happily, so Pearl could consider the ride being over and successfully done without any damage to health.

   “Already?” Pearl asked, sounding a little bit more surprised than she actually wanted. She was surprised they managed to ride round the arena so quickly, although very slow. “Well, that was… Fast.”

   “I know right.” Lapis giggled, patting Blue’s neck for a good behaving during the ride.

   “So, uh... Can I get down now?” Pearl asked, checking how high she was maybe for the millionth time. "How do I do it?"

   “Just like you go up.” She smirked and watched Pearl’s expression slowly changing into an uncertain one.

   “Um, alright.” Pearl swallowed, feeling like the way down’s going to be yet more difficult than the way up. “How do I begin?”

   “Get your feet out the stirrups and just slide down.” Lapis said, opening her arms. “I’ll catch you.”

   “O-okay.” The taller girl bit her lip while hesitantly looking down. She was really looking forward to stand on the solid ground, but yet she had to get there.

   Pearl slipped her feet out and firmly squeezed the saddle, tossing her right leg over Blue, and once she was hanging from the horse’s back, she waited for Lapis’ signal.

   “Ready?” Lapis asked, gently placing her hands on Pearl’ hips to support her. “I got you.”

   “Okay.” Pearl nodded and slowly slid down the saddle, but as she hit the ground, her body suddenly felt so heavy – it felt like she just got out of water after a very long swim. She was thankful for Lapis’ hands holding her – if it weren’t them, she would’ve fallen on the ground for sure.

   It felt like she couldn’t put her legs together, like if there was still something between them and forbidding her from doing so.

   “Are you alright?” The blue-haired girl inquired as Pearl straightened.

   “Yes, I’m fine.” Pearl breathed out a grin and hugged Lapis tightly around her neck, finally feeling safe again.

   “I’m glad to hear that.” Lapis admitted, placing a soft kiss in Pearl’s peach hair, stroking her and providing her an extra feeling of safety by hugging her back. “How was the ride? Did you enjoy it?”

   “It was… Okay.” Pearl said after a moment of hesitation. For some reason she didn’t want to admit she liked it – maybe she was concerned about having another ride. But the view, huh, it sure had something into it.

   It must’ve been hard for Pearl, Lapis thought, and she was surprised herself that Pearl actually agreed to absolve the ride, but still Lapis was so proud of her and happy that she tried.

 

   The rider led her horse into its stall, removing all the tacks, clearing hooves and giving the horse some treats.

   Pearl was watching her with a light smile on her face, leaning against the stall wall and watching Lapis working, and she relaxed. The odd feeling of body-heaviness slowly faded away, and finally Pearl could press her legs together without feeling like if she was still sitting on the horse and couldn’t do so.

   While watching Lapis walking round the hall, Pearl offered clearing the hallway from straw. Lapis thanked Pearl for the offer and handed her the broom. Since they both were working together, the faster the work went and the sooner they were finished.

   “... So.” Lapis wiped her forehead on her way back from the tack room. “We’re done for today. Thank you for help, honey.”

   Pearl hummed shyly, cheeks brightening. “No problem.” She scratched her nape, avoiding looking into Lapis’ eyes, not exactly knowing the reason why.

   Meanwhile, Lapis slowly approached her and yet she was slowing her pace the closer to Pearl she was, a faint smirk glowing on her face. “... What do we do now?”

   Pearl’s eyes then darted to Lapis, although she was fighting against it. “I-I don’t know.” She responded, but after a while she remembered why she actually came. Unfortunately she didn’t manage to say anything before Lapis took over the speech and gently placed her hands on Pearl’s hips once more.

   “Mmm, so now it’s your chance to make out something.” She said, keeping her voice low and eyes fixed on Pearl’s.

   Pearl swallowed, finally able to look at Lapis entirely. The tone of her voice started turning her stomach upside down, and yet more the closer Lapis was. Her tanned hands were slipping from Pearl’s hips to her loins gingerly.

   “Well?” Lapis whispered, taking step closer and closing the space between them.

   Because of this closeness, Pearl was forced to place her hands somewhere, so she chose to put them around Lapis’ neck, scratching her hair gently. “Actually… I wanted to ask if you’d like to come over to my place tonight.”

   “So that’s why you actually came?” Lapis chuckled and started to rock them both, gently, enjoying Pearl’s finger in her hair. “You could just call.”

   “I know, I just… Wanted to see you.” Pearl admitted and once more she looked aside from those dark blue eyes.

   Lapis sighed dreamily with a slight shake of her head. “Aw, you’re just so lovely.”

   Pearl hummed softly at that compliment and reddened yet more, asking Lapis once again. “So? Would you like to come?”

   “I would _love_ to.” She nodded and smooched her girlfriend’s forehead.

<•••>

 

   They took a long night walk around the town, talking and giggling, walking hand in hand and watching their widening shadows as they walked pass a street lamp. The sky was clear tonight but a few tiny clouds. As girls were passing a city park, they took a seat on the nearest bench and watched stars glowing above their heads, with a wind rustling through the trees behind them, listening to crickets and an owl.

   Pearl snuggled to Lapis, wrapping her hands around Lapis’ arm, laying her head down on her shoulder, sighing contentedly. She closed her eyes and inhaled Lapis’ sweet fragrance. She shivered at that pleasant scent and snuggled yet more.

   Lapis couldn’t bite back a smile. She placed a soft kiss in Pearl’s hair and laid her head on the other’s, petting Pearl’s thigh with her free hand.

   They spent one hour in the park, watching stars and cuddling, maybe even two, but counting hours wasn’t their main focus. Later, during the darkest night, they decided to continue home – partly because of the weather started turning cold, although it was quite hot today.

 

   Soon they reached Beach City housing estate, walked pass the wide parking lot and finally entered the block of flats where Pearl lived.

   Calling the elevator took a while and so girls took that opportunity to pay their attention to one another once again, wrapping their arms around the other and changing a few kisses, entirely forgetting about the elevator notifying them about its arrival, being shrouded by darkness as the hall light automatically turned off after capturing no movements.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl tried riding a horse  
> • girls took a walk around the night town  
> • Lapis came over to Pearl’s place
> 
> ♦ 12th week (Monday)


	34. Feral Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • sensitive/mature content

   Pearl was pushed against her apartment’s door yet before she could unlock it, but somehow she managed to slip the key into the door lock, although she was urgently returning her kisses to Lapis, running her other hand through her smooth cyan hair, tugging the girl towards herself and gasping for more kisses.

   Pearl was way too distracted to remove the key from the door lock once the door was finally unlocked, but realized there were safety cameras installed inside the building, so for her own and Lapis’ good she rather opened the door and raided inside along with her lover.

   The door shut closed behind them and Pearl was once again pressed against it, a gasp leaving her after the thrust. A sensation of delight rushed through her as Lapis pressed her body against hers, hands sneaking along Pearl’s slim waist, hips and thighs.

   Pearl wrapped her arm around Lapis’ neck, pulling her towards herself, and yet with her other hand she tried to throw the keys into key basket placed on a shoe cabinet, though the ubiquitous darkness was a bit forbidding her from hitting it – she heard the keys fall onto the ground anyway.

   Five slender digits ran through Lapis’ hair, pulling her closer and yet scratching her at the same time while Lapis’ hands were travelling across Pearl’s body, slowly slipping under her shirt and up along her sides.

   Her hot lips were greedy for Pearl, nuzzling her and daring. Poor Pearl, paralyzed, wasn’t able to focus on breathing. Every time Lapis’ lips landed on her skin, it felt like she breathed life into her. Blood was rushing wildly through her veins, boiling. Every heart beat felt as if a great ocean wave thrust into her.

   Lapis’ head lowered down Pearl’ neck while her hands were busy going the opposite direction, exposing the girl’s pale stomach, leaving trails of her fingers on her skin.

   “Mmhm-hah…Ah.” Pearl gasped, being pushed against the door.

   Lapis kept pushing yet further, pressing her pelvis against Pearl’s a bit harder than before, her sneaky fingers slipped under the band of Pearl’s bra from where goosebumps started spreading right after.

   Pearl started trembling, shivers running down her spine. She hankered for Lapis so, so bad, though she was afraid where could all this lead up, but on the other hand she couldn’t deny the fact that she wished for more than just this.

   Lapis’ lips smacked as they parted from Pearl’s neck, travelling back up to meet her thin lips. She stole some more kisses from her, fingers still slipping alongside the band towards Pearl’s back.

   “Ah-hah.” Pearl groaned when a kiss was stolen from her. She then gave Lapis a taste of her own medicine – biting her bottom lip and stretching it, waiting for it to come back and repeating the action again until it started disturbing the other girl.

   “Hey! Be a good girl.” Lapis hissed, keeping her voice low but teasing, and pinched Pearl’s butt as for payback.

   “Ouch! That hurt!” Pearl barked, brows furrowed, but grinned. Her arms were wrapped tighter around the other’s neck.

   “You deserve it, you teaser.” Lapis murmured and this time she was the one who clasped the other’s lip between teeth, making Pearl growl at her like an angry wolf.

   Lapis stretched her lip, then released it, then again, stretched and released, closely watching Pearl’s reactions with teasing grin on her face.

   “You better stop it right now.” Pearl threatened, smirking and nuzzling the other’s mouth, rather provoking Lapis to do the opposite she asked for.

   “Or what? Are you gonna release your cat at me? Ow, I’m so scared.” Lapis laughed playfully, making a brief pause before scanning Pearl’s face carefully. Lapis licked her own lips – they became dry after being separated from Pearl’s for so long. “… I’d rather deal with _this_ kitty over here.” She whispered mysteriously.

   Pearl frowned, an evil smile played on her face. She cupped Lapis’ freckled cheeks with her hands and pulled her lips towards her own, but caught a few bites before Lapis adapted to the same wavelength which she required.

   Their eyes went close as their lips met again, but not too long for Pearl; leaving her eyes wide open and pupils shrunk into tiny dots.

   Those sneaky hands were slipping across her back, scratching it and discovering more and more places to touch, spreading goosebumps all over Pearl's skin.

   Pearl urgently tried to ignore those wonderful hands by focusing on the girl’s lips, keeping both Lapis’ and her own wet and warm. Pearl couldn’t keep her hands on Lapis’ face for too long; automatically they went around Lapis’ neck once again.

   “Pearl.” Lapis sighed between two tender kisses. Her hands dropped down to Pearl’s butt and lightly squeezed it. “Pearl, I want you.” She groaned.

   Another kiss followed, deep and tasty. Pearl felt the other’s pelvis pressing against her own a bit harder, leaving her breathless, but rather because of Lapis’ desire than this act.

   She’s never been this far, Pearl perceived. Suddenly she started doubting if she really wanted to end up counting stars while being touched on particular places. Was she even ready yet? She wondered if she could stop it yet; stop them, stop that greedy girl from wanting more. But she was so wonderful!

   “Lapis?” Pearl managed to blurt before Lapis sank her lips into hers, but she didn’t seem to react. Lapis’ mouth was still busy, swallowing Pearl’s breath and stealing air from her lungs. Her tanned hands were slowly circling along the girl’s buttocks and pulling her towards her own boiling body.

   “Hon–” The skinny girl tried, interrupted by another fond buss. “Lapis, w-wait a mo–”

   Her heart-shaped lips smack pulled from Pearl slowly, slightly confused expression appeared on Lapis’ face. “What is it, sweetheart?”

   Pearl froze, gulping for air and staring straight into Lapis’ bemused eyes. She felt really bad for interrupting these situations. She knew that Lapis was always trying so hard, but because of Pearl’s doubts and innocence it always ended up like this. She quite regretted disrupting this beautiful and passionate moment, but this time, for her fortune, she heard her ragdoll cat approaching and meowing up at them. Pearl was saved.

   “Oh, look who’s here to save you.” Lapis chuckled, turning her head towards the faint meowing. She replaced her hands up to Pearl’s hips, as if the cat would attack if it found out about anything that was going on.

   “Yeah.” Pearl giggled, very relieved that Rose actually showed up. “Well... S-she doesn’t like bad girls.” Pearl tried to joke, hoping for easing this situation a little bit, but Lapis rather smirked at that.

   “Alright, you got me.” She chuckled, letting go of Pearl, although it was quite against her will. She still longed for that girl. She already felt so alone and empty without Pearl’s lips and arms around her neck.

   It wasn’t over yet, Lapis decided.

   “So.” Pearl cleared her throat, shivering and still a bit randy from earlier, she tried to keep her voice steady. “Shall we head inside?”

   Lapis nodded and then followed Pearl further into the flat.

   Rose was gently taken into Pearl’s arms as she was heading to the living room, purring aloud and nuzzling her owner’s chest while being petted.

   “Have a seat.” Pearl gently offered, turning to Lapis.

   The girl nodded thankfully and took a seat on the sofa.

   “Are you hungry?” Pearl asked after sitting down onto the couch next to her. It’s been maybe a half an hour since they got home, so as a good host, Pearl considered that asking her girlfriend if she’d like something to eat would be more than suitable.

   “Only for you.” Lapis whispered, arms tossed over the back of the sofa, a mysterious smirk on her face.

   Pearl’s eyes wide opened and her chin almost dropped, but she tried to remain cool – though fighting against her boiling cheeks was quite impossible at that moment. “I-uh…” She tittered, then swallowed. “And-uh… What about something to drink? Can I offer you something?”

   Lapis hummed amusedly. “A tea would be lovely.”

   “Alright.” Pearl smiled and put Rose down onto the sofa, then walked pass Lapis into the kitchen. Lapis was trying all her best not to slap Pearl's butt as she was passing her by.

   Making the tea took Pearl only a few minutes before she got back to Lapis. She handed her the mug, softly brushing her fingers while exchanging it. After this contact she couldn’t avoid looking Lapis in the eyes, and god, that sweet face she made turned Pearl’s whole universe upside down.

   “Thank you, darling.” Lapis blinked, wrapping the mug in her fingers.

   “You’re welcome.” Pearl shrugged with a giggle, taking a seat right next to her girlfriend. She immediately reddened as Lapis’ longing eyes landed on her, feeling a wave of chills wash over her body. “Would you like to-uh… I don't know... Watch a movie?” Pearl then blurted, mostly in effort to shake off the feeling like if she’d get eaten if she’d let Lapis stare at her like that any longer.

   “Umm, yeah, why not.” Lapis shrugged, placing the mug onto the tabletop. “And what movie should it be?”

   Honestly Pearl wasn’t counting with this plan working out. Now she was supposed to make out something. “Uuuh… Um.”

   Lapis couldn’t bite back a grin, especially not when Pearl’s face looked this adorable while urgently trying to think. The blue-haired girl then shifted a little closer to Pearl, especially gently placing her hand onto her thigh, stroking it as gingerly as she could. “… Maybe I could give you a hand.”

   Once again Pearl’s eyes opened wide, drops of sweat forming on her temples. She was almost scared to look at Lapis then. Her fists clenched as that tender hand was slowly stroking her along her thin thigh, rather along its inner side. Pearl swallowed. “Um, y-yeah. That’s-that’s right.” She stuttered. “Maybe it’d be nice if you make out something… Um, I got this box over here. You can pick something from there.”

   Lapis watched as Pearl bent down and from below the table she put out a paper box with CDs and old videotapes. Man, those things reminded Lapis of her good old childhood. “Alright… Um, roughly, what should it be?”

   “Oh, it’s… Entirely up to you.” Pearl smiled nervously, placing the box onto the table, glad that she was able to distract Lapis for a moment. “I’ll be… Right back.” She said and cautiously she stood up, heading to the guest room where she kept her clothes. She realized she hasn’t got herself a shower today yet and thought this would probably be a perfect moment for it, since Lapis was quite… More playful than usual. Maybe an adequate time distance from Pearl would help cool Lapis down a little bit, Pearl thought. Although Pearl really appreciated this kind of Lapis’ attention, she was quite afraid where it all could escalate to.

   “Sure.” Lapis said behind her and slowly started raking through the tapes.

   Meanwhile, Pearl entered the guest room and opened the closet, pulling out some clean clothes for her and also for Lapis, so she doesn't have to sleep in her day shirt as it was for the last time. She also took one towel with herself, in case Lapis would like to take a shower, too. Pearl’s towel was already in the bathroom, so she didn’t have to bother with taking herself one, too.   

   Once she gained everything she needed, she exited the room and closed the door behind herself, turning to Lapis who was hesitating in picking one of the two CDs she was holding in her hands.

   Pearl giggled, cheeks turning faint pink. “So, what do you got?”

   “Ugh, I can’t decide between these two.” Lapis sighed, scanning over the scripts of each CD.

   “Aha.” Pearl chuckled softly, cupping her mouth, then thought for a moment. “Then I guess I’ll leave it to you. I’m gonna get myself a shower real quick.”

   “But Pearl, I really got a hard time deciding right now.” Lapis groaned dramatically, making Pearl chuckle once more.

   “You can make it, darling.” Pearl spurred her gently, a sweet smile played on her face. “Also um… Would you like to… Take a shower, too?”

   Briefly Lapis stopped scanning over the covers and glued her eyes to Pearl again without even turning her head, light smirk on her lips. “You mean… Together?” She asked and her smile yet widened.

   “Ah…” Pearl lost her breath. Well, maybe that was a wrong way of formulating this type of question. “Um-uh… I mean, separately, of course.” She chuckled shyly, unable to shake the red dust off of her cheeks.

   “Aah.” Lapis groaned, pretending disappointment. “… Maybe later then, party pooper.”

   Pearl just rolled her eyes, but the grin on her lips never faded, leaving clean clothes for Lapis on the couch. She then headed to the bathroom and locked the door behind herself; in case Lapis would be a little too curious.

 

   Finally Lapis was able to pick one of the two movies, and Pearl was satisfied with this option as well.

   The bathroom was finally ready to use, so Lapis went and took a quick shower while Pearl made herself something to drink. She noticed that there still remained a few strawberries in the fridge. It would be a shame to let them all spoil when girls could eat them, right?

   So Pearl pulled the plastic box with strawberries out the fridge, carefully she washed one piece after another, put them into a bowl and finally decorated them with a pinch of icing sugar. And as if it was the right timing, Lapis walked out the bathroom just as Pearl dropped down onto the sofa with bowl of strawberries in her hands.

   CD player and the CD inside it were already prepared as Lapis sat down beside Pearl, tossing her arm that was closer to Pearl over the back of the couch.

   Pearl took that opportunity and gingerly shifted to Lapis, laying her head down onto her shoulder, nuzzling her to get the most comfortable position she could and tossed a blanket over their legs.

   Lapis’ warm smile spread upon her cheeks. Her arm slipped from the couch only to hug Pearl around her shoulder and pull her closer.

   “I brought strawberries.” Pearl boasted in whisper, slowly getting way too comfortable in Lapis’ arms.

   “I can see.” Lapis hummed with a slight nod, smiling. “They look just delicious.” She murmured into Pearl’s ear, fondly nuzzling her peach hair, perceiving its faint, pleasant smell.

   Pearl slightly shivered as the blown air from Lapis’ nose fluttered her hair. She giggled and snuggled up to Lapis a bit more, grabbing the remote control. “So, shall we?”

   “Yeah.” The girl whispered and placed a small kiss onto Pearl’s temple.

 

   As the right option Lapis chose a romantic, psychological movie, since Pearl was the one into romance and Lapis more into psychology. She was glad that Pearl owned this one. Lapis really liked this movie since the first time she saw it.

   But this time, especially for Lapis, the movie was rather a coulisse than something she was supposed to watch. She rather paid her attention to Pearl – giving her a kiss when something romantic appeared on the screen. They were feeding one another with strawberries until the bowl became empty, cuddling through the entire movie, chatting in low voice and whispering sweet words to one another's ear, changing tender kisses with quiet smacking filling the room.

   “Mm, you smell like a watermelon.” Lapis extolled at the end of the movie when subtitles were rolling up, inhaling the beautiful fragrance emitting from Pearl’s skin.

   “Well, yeah.” Pearl giggled, goosebumps overflowing her body as Lapis’ nose was slipping across her neck. She turned off the TV. “I used watermelon shower gel.” She admitted.

   “Mhm.” Lapis hummed, sniffing some more before she straightened to meet Pearl face to face again, whispering. “I wonder how you taste like.”

   “Hahah, awfully.” The taller girl guessed, cheeks becoming red because of Lapis’ growing closeness.

   Slowly she was shifting closer to Pearl’s lips until she finally reached them with her own, kissing her fondly and carefully. Her hands gently held Pearl’s, slowly making tiny circles with her thumbs over the back of her pale hands, but soon one of her hands let go of Pearl and cupped her cheek instead. Lapis pushed her lips harder towards the other’s, letting the kisses become passionate.

   Pearl gasped faintly as Lapis’ lips parted from her , yet still remained close enough to feel her hot breath on her face.

   “Awfully sweet.” Lapis panted, letting only a brief moment for Pearl to breathe in before her lips were pressed into Pearl’s once again.

   She tasted Pearl a little bit more this time, trying to fight off the desire to bite her, though it was hard to persuade herself.

   Pearl, on the other hand, wasn’t afraid to fight back. Once Lapis bit her, she repaid it right after, though these bites were rather careful than teasing. Those kisses that were given to her were tender, slow and affectionate.

   Lapis leaned more into Pearl, pushing her backwards. Her hand slowly shifted to Pearl’s back to support her.

   Pearl wrapped her arms around the other girl’s neck, letting herself be laid down onto the sofa while being kissed the most wonderful way she could barely even imagine.

   Lapis was so strong, although she seemed quite fragile, Pearl thought. She laid Pearl down so carefully that she didn’t even realize she was already lying in duvets. Lapis kneeled over her, one leg on each side of Pearl. She kept kissing her, tasting, biting, but softly.

   Pearl couldn’t keep any gasp inside as Lapis shifted lower to her neck, slowly pulling her hand out from below Pearl’s back to support herself while she was leaning over her.

   She pressed her chest against Pearl’s, feeling both her breath and speeding heart beat.

   Pearl started to feel uncomfortable knowing that her nipples began straightening again, and yet right under Lapis’ torso. She perceived her strong body, her breasts pressing against her own. Suddenly Pearl realized that neither of them owned a bra at that moment, then flushed dark red immediately.

   Pearl's stomach flipped over, heart pounding wildly, breath stuck in her throat as Lapis kissed her all the way down her slender neck. She felt Lapis’ hot hand pressing against her belly; she was melting under it like a snow, finally catching her breath, not aware if she should close her eyes nor leave them open. Her mind became one big mush of emotions and thoughts, though she couldn’t identify or control any single one of them.

   Lapis smiled to herself, scanning over one of the hickeys still remaining on Pearl’s skin, but then she continued in her task, slipping her lips lower towards Pearl’s throat. Earlier, the arm Lapis was supporting herself with, she gently slipped under the back of Pearl’s neck in effort to keep her closer and still, the other one fondly rubbing and tickling her belly. Lapis’ tongue slipped out her lips and began licking Pearl's skin from her throat upwards, leaving a short trail of saliva there.

   Pearl’s heart jolted, maybe even skipped a beat or two. This intense contact was making a mess out of her. She needed to hold onto something, so instantly she dug her fingernails into the mattress, letting a gasp escape her lips as she sensed Lapis’ hot tongue again, but this time travelling along her jaw line.

   Her light eyes rolled backwards, she was afraid of taking a breath because of Lapis’ chest being so close.

   Pearl’s body was shivering, both from pleasure and a bit of uncertainty, but this contact was making her yet more desperate for more of it.

   Her hand ran through Lapis’ hair only to pull her towards her lips again. She needed her, and at least for a little moment she wanted to focus on something else than Lapis’ breasts and that wonderful hand which was caressing her stomach so kindly.

   Lapis tried all her best to be gentle and slow, however, the growing heat inside her was making it difficult. She so longed for Pearl, longed for her body and those tiny sweet gasps that left her lips always as Lapis managed to hit any particular sensitive spot on her soft neck.

   “Ah… Mmhm.” Pearl groaned silently, swallowing Lapis’ boiling breath once she was brought back up to her lips.

   Pearl shut her eyes, but even though they were closed, she could suddenly sense a flash of black shadow manifesting right next to her. For some reason it made her think that they were not alone; she could feel a presence, making her feel quite uncomfortable and scared.

   She half-opened her eyes. “Lapis, wait… I-I feel like…” She stuttered, making Lapis lean back a bit.

   “What?” Lapis asked a little confused, gulping for air.

   Pearl turned her head to the right just to find her cat sitting only a few inches away from them on the couch and staring straight at them, slowly waving the tip of her tail.

   Pearl’s heart almost exploded in shock, eyes wide, panting. How embarrassing. “Rose, what are you… What are you doing here? Go away, shoo!” Pearl tried, but unfortunately for her, Rose remained still. Pearl then threw a desperate look at Lapis in effort to make her help Pearl solve this sudden situation. “Could you just… Push her a bit?”

   Lapis gave the ragdoll a look, then turned back to Pearl with a chuckle. “Why?”

   “I don’t want her to watch us-uh… Y-you know.” Pearl blushed, looking aside, imagining those big glowing eyes watching them until the night is over. She bit her lip, feeling chills running over her skin under Lapis’ gaze.

   Lapis rolled her eyes, but grinned, turning her head to Rose. “Okay, little girl, I’m really sorry, but you have to go.” She declared, then stretched her hand and gently pushed the cat away from them. Rose then jumped down from the couch and went somewhere out of their sign. Pearl let out a sigh of relief.

   “… She must be jealous.” Lapis proclaimed with a giggle, coming back to her lover.

   “Why would she?” Pearl’s brow wrinkled.

   “Because someone‘s just stealing kisses from her mommy.” She said, once again leaning towards Pearl, pressing her lips against hers to steal another kiss.

   Pearl then smiled into the buss and once again her hand found its way back into Lapis’ hair, stroking it fondly.

   Lapis’ hand started to move again, rubbing and scratching Pearl’s abdomen while her lips were busy with planting kisses all over her face, sweet and gentle smooches and bites.

   The blue-haired girl lowered her head down towards Pearl’s neck again, leaving tiny little marks of teeth there, but no hickeys. Meanwhile, Pearl toyed with her blue hair – well, at least she tried to distract herself a little bit, because all these blissful sensations were way too intensive to her. But her trying didn’t stick for too long.

   Lapis pulled her arm out from below Pearl’s neck and slowly she sat down onto her pelvis.

   Pearl then finally felt free to breathe, but still remained all dazed, no matter for how much air she gulped.

   Then other Lapis’ hand joined the one which was already resting on Pearl’s stomach. Though it still was over the fabric, Lapis became stroking it, gingerly, affectionately, watching closely Pearl’s reactions.

   She started wiggling a little because of those light touches, because of those delicate fingers which were leaving narrow trails across the fabric, slightly tickling her. Then one of those fine hands gently slipped under Pearl’s night shirt. Lapis smiled as her fingertips sensed goosebumps on Pearl’s skin along with shivers – it made her confident.

   Her hand was going up deadly slow, every inch made Pearl’s heart beat go faster, such as her breath. She was shy to keep her eyes on Lapis because of that suspiciously affable smile playing on her freckled face, and yet Pearl was forced to watch that hand slowly shifting up, rolling up her shirt and exposing her belly.

   There was this strange feeling again, the one Pearl felt once before – her chest was trembling, heart pounding so wildly it could explode any second, shivers were running down her spine as quickly as her hands were sweating.

   Lapis’ hand then reached Pearl’s very chest, resting her hand in the center of it, feeling like if it was burning the fragile skin underneath it because of its extreme warmth.

   Pearl was afraid of breathing at that moment, although she knew that she’d blackout if she didn’t breathe in even once.

   She found Lapis leaning over to her again, stealing one deep kiss from her, another and another as that hand started to move again, shifting to a side towards Pearl’s breast.

   Pearl squeaked into Lapis’ mouth as her nipple came in contact with her hot palm, and yet Pearl tried her best not to cry out as Lapis slowly slithered two of her fingers over it, making the button harden yet more. “Aah-hah, Lapis…” Pearl groaned, trembling.

   “Mhm?” Lapis purred, nuzzling and tenderly kissing Pearl’s neck. She toyed a little with the nipple, circling her finger around it and brushing over it every so often.

   “A-ahh… Mhmm.” Pearl moaned, only able to grasp Lapis’ head in her arms and pull her towards her chest, feeling like if electric currents were rushing through her body every time Lapis’ finger made another circle, back arched and head turned backwards. “L-Lapis… Lapis, please…” She gasped, yet not knowing what exactly she was pleading for.

   It just felt good; so good – way better than Pearl did it herself, because she couldn’t expect any movement of those amazing fingers. It was just so pleasing, making her mind and senses become one big chaos. Pearl was only glad she didn’t pass out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis and Pearl were watching a movie  
> • girls were cuddling late at night
> 
> ♦ 12th week (Monday night)


	35. Shine Your Way

   Pearl woke up quite late the next morning, seeing only blue in front and around herself. She realized her face was buried nowhere else than in Lapis’ blue mane – and it smelled so sweet, too.

   She smelled again and nuzzled the ocean blue hair yet more with a light smile on her face, tossing her arm around Lapis’ torso and gluing herself to her strong back.

   “Mm, good morning.” Pearl heard a murmur as Lapis’ hand cupped hers to give it a few strokes.

   “Morning, Lapis.” The taller girl whispered. Her response made Lapis turn around slowly, facing Pearl and her weary, but cute face. Her arm still remained around Lapis.

   Pearl perceived pleasant warmth underneath the covers, radiating from their bodies and keeping them warm. She wished they could stay like that forever, right as their legs tangled up together and pulled one another closer.

   Lapis’ hand was brought up to Pearl’s cheek and stroked it affectionately, making Pearl close her eyes for a brief moment. “Did you sleep well?”

   “Yes.” Pearl blinked slowly. “Did you?”

   “Way better than the last time.” Lapis lightly chuckled, watching Pearl and her beautiful shining eyes. “… I really enjoyed yesterday.” She recalled it, stroking Pearl once more and brushing her bangs away from her forehead.

   Pearl’s mind darted back to yesterday’s night, refreshing all the sensations that were controlling her body and senses, making her mind almost incorrigible big mess. The way Lapis was touching her, it was just unforgettable, and yet it felt like it was still happening, though it was not. “Me too.” She admitted in whisper. Suddenly she couldn’t fight off the growing desire for Lapis’ hands on her chest again, and yet when they were so close to it right now.

   Pearl breathed in to cool down her appetence, a feeling which she’s never sensed before the last night, becoming a little agitated by light shivers growing inside her chest. She blushed even without knowing.

   Lapis’ soft chuckle brought Pearl back to present along with her hand stroking her smooth pale cheek. She recognized that Pearl replayed the events in her head. “… Are you free tomorrow?” Lapis then asked, wondering.

   “Uum… I-I’m afraid I'll be busy all day.” Pearl thought. “My parents are arranging a birthday party for me. And Thursday will be the same, except I’ll be celebrating with Garnet and Amethyst.”

   “I see.” Lapis sighed softly, wondering if she’d be welcomed to the Thursday party, too. But she wasn’t worried that she’d not be that much. She knew that the three of them were closest friends and it was only okay for them to meet up.

   “But.” Pearl then continued. “I should be free on Friday.” She said and began scratching Lapis’ back gently, bringing her dark eyes up to hers.

   Suddenly a light of hope lit in Lapis. She was thankful for this opportunity. When else could she have a chance to give Pearl her gift?

   The freckled girl smiled widely. “Well then, may I invite you over to my home overnight? So we could… Celebrate, too?” She asked.

   There was something mysterious in that sentence, Pearl recognized, but she couldn’t make out what it was. It made her feel a little uncertain, but what could possibly go wrong?

   “I’d… Love to come over.” Pearl smiled shyly.

   “Sweet.” The other girl grinned and pecked Pearl’s lips. “I’ll pick you up once you’re ready.”

<•••>

   Since it was the second half of September already, Pearl had yet several things to get in order before her first day in college. She drove Lapis back to the stable and then headed to the university campus to get everything ready before her first, official accession day.

   Lapis didn’t have to bother with school. She accomplished education after three years in college and being an equestrian was now her permanent job. She was so glad she didn’t have to study anymore.

 

   A new bedding was delivered to the stable, Lapis noticed as she walked inside the building. She also noticed that Peridot and several people were storing the bedding up in the attic. Lapis greeted all of them, except for Peridot. Lapis only shot her a look and passed her by. She felt bad about it, but she wasn’t ready to forgive Peridot for what she said back on Sunday yet.

   Peridot quite regretted the way she expressed herself, too. She should’ve chosen better wording for what was on her chest. She knew the way that Lapis felt when someone talked about her mother and what happened, but Peridot was sure that what she’d said was correct and wanted to stay her ground. Besides, she wanted to help Lapis, and not let her down. So sooner or later, she guessed that she’d better apologize – well, at least for the tone she used back then.

 

   For today’s training Lapis chose a different horse, because both, she and Greg, decided to sign two horses for the Grand Prix, so each of the horses could afford a break once the ride is successful and use the other horse for the next round.

   Lapis certainly wanted to save Blue for the jump-off if she manages to get through all the previous rounds, so for the qualification she chose Lion – a young, but experienced gelding which was in perfect condition and was one of the best jumpers in the stable. But there was a little problem with the horse, too. Namely it was headstrong and mostly it did what it wanted, especially when it was ridden. Lion needed a steady hand, and with Lapis’ self-confidence, determination and ability to persuade others, she believed she could make the horse work in harness.

<•••>

   Friday came by quickly to Lapis, although all the arranging around Grand Prix was rather stressful and exhausting, yet all the medical examinations Lapis had to undergo were making her tired twice as much. Blue and Lion have undergone several examinations as well, checking if both of them were able to compete with the smallest possibility to get injured during the big event. Greg and the team also had to contact their veterinarian and agree on coming along, get in order everything about transport, pay the entry fee, contact local stable manager to provide them two box stalls for their horses and also book several rooms in a hotel nearby the equestrian grounds, so travelling would not be the main time killer and any big deal.

   Lapis’ watch showed 5 PM by the time her job in the stable was done. She packed her things, got into her Kodiaq car and hurried home to clean the mess she’s made since her whole family was gone for vacation. As she arrived, she got herself clean clothes, then dusted and vacuumed the house, washed the dishes and cleaned up her room.

   As soon as everything was settled and just before she decided to pick Pearl up, Lapis spent several minutes in the upstairs bathroom by additionally grooming herself, fixing her hair and applying a bit of her perfume which Pearl loved the most.

   Lapis was so excited about this day. She was looking forward to see Pearl’s expression as she unwraps the gift Lapis bought her. And of course Lapis couldn’t wait to finally see her beloved Pearl after three long days.

   She wanted tonight to be perfect and was determined to do her absolute best to make it work, though she was quite worried that she could spoil something, even a teeny-tiny thing. She was shivering all day because of it, shivering from both excitement and nervousness. But now there was no time for this, Lapis decided. She had to stay cool – especially when she wanted things to work out the way she wished for.

 

   Shortly after Lapis’ watch notified her of 6 o’clock, she was finally ready to set off. She got into her car and started off to Pearl’s place. Lapis was so excited to see her that much that every so often she managed to exceed the maximum speed limit in town. But before she could notice it, she was already standing next to the main door of the apartment building.

   She texted Pearl a message once she got out of her car and waited for her to arrive to the parking lot. And before Lapis could count to ten, Pearl was already down the stairs, carrying a bag on her shoulder and giving Lapis one sweet smile after another.

   “Hello, precious.” Lapis greeted in low, sweet voice, leaning her back against her Kodiaq. Her hands were resting in her pants pockets, one leg bent and foot resting against the car door.

   Pearl was quite stunned by her look – those torn jeans and checked shirt with combination of pink and turquoise color really suited her, and yet especially with that enchanting smile dancing on her lips.

   Pearl almost stumbled over while her eyes were fixed on her. The closer to Lapis she was, the slower she went and the quicker her cheeks were turning red.

   “What is it?” The blue-haired girl chuckled, noticing Pearl’s suspicious behavior. Slowly she pulled away from her car and headed towards Pearl to help her with the luggage.

   “How come you’re more beautiful every day?” Pearl shook her head as if she didn’t believe that Lapis really looked as pretty as she saw her.

   “Aw, you’re such a sweetheart.” Lapis smiled and placed a soft kiss onto Pearl's mouth, then bent down to take her bag. “Here, let me help you.”

   “Thank you.” Pearl bit her lip and handed her bag to Lapis. “You’re gorgeous.”

   “I know. That’s why you love me.” Lapis dared say with a smirk, placing the luggage to the back seat and closing the door. Then she opened the front one for Pearl, gesturing for her to get aboard. “Milady.”

   Pearl stood frozen for a brief moment after all that she’s just heard, but then she softly laughed, cupping her mouth before she headed towards the passenger seat. “What a gesture.” She chuckled and gently pecked Lapis’ cheek, then entered the car, leaving faint blush on the girl's face.

   “I missed you, honey.” Pearl admitted, squeezing her hands between her knees as she was watching Lapis buckling up.

   “I missed you, too.” Lapis smiled and then leaned over to Pearl to give her a tiny sweet smooch again. “You have no idea how much I was looking forward to this day.”

   “Were you?” Pearl’s light brows rose.

   “Yeah.” Lapis started the car, turning the steering wheel to the side, so she could get to the main road. “This all week was just so boring and tiring. I’m glad it’s finally over.”

   Pearl chuckled softly and leaned her elbow against the window, chin resting in her palm as she was looking outside. “Not quite yet.”

   Lapis’ dark eyes slightly widened. She turned her head to Pearl and grinned immediately as she saw her smiling back at her.

 

   The ride back took a bit longer then the ride there, but both girls enjoyed it. They were chatting about varied topics while passing through the slowly emptying evening streets, and when they were not, they were simply holding hands – well, when Lapis wasn’t engaging a gear at the time. They talked about everything that happened the past few days they were apart and never missed any detail. They were laughing, giggling, trying to hide their reddening cheeks and avoiding one another’s eyes as one was caught staring at the other. But soon as the ride came to an end, those cute, innocent glimpses did as well, though those shy smiles never left their faces.

   Lapis opened the passenger door for Pearl and waited for her to come out, then she took Pearl’s bag from the back seat. She locked the car when she heard Pearl gasp behind her.

   “Wow… So, this… Is your house?” Pearl froze on a spot, her chin lightly dropped.

   The house was huge, both wide and high, surrounded by neatly-looking garden. It was beautiful two-storey house with an open garage with two parking places right under the balcony and enormous amount of flowers and plants all over the place. And on top of that, the whole area was decorated with outdoor light bulbs that made the whole exterior yet brighter during the actual golden twilight. Pearl so loved all types of lights, especially in the very dark, but still, this looked really pretty to her. She would never stop gasping in amazement how incredibly beautiful this place was. She had to admit it really was something. Now this was how she imagined heaven.

   “Yeah.” Lapis grinned and stood beside Pearl, surrounding her slim waist with her arm. “Welcome to my home.”

   “It’s so… So pretty and…” Pearl shook her head, still astonished by everything she was seeing, hoping they didn’t have a car crash and neither she was standing in front of Pearly gates. “Those lights... And-and flowers… Lapis, it’s so beautiful here.”

   Lapis had to chuckle at the way Pearl tried to express herself. She also couldn’t forgive herself giving the girl a kiss onto her cheek, tugging her closer with her hand while the other was carrying Pearl’s luggage. “Heh, it’s alright… But I guess I can see why you like it.” She smirked and briefly watched the scenery before she spoke again. “… Do you wanna take moment?”

   “Yes, please.” Pearl asked and with a soft, enchanted sigh she laid her head down onto Lapis’ shoulder.

 

   “Is there someone I could say hi to?” Pearl asked right as she entered the house, following Lapis along the hallway.

   “Oh, no, no. They’ve all gone for a vacation.” The girl announced, placing the luggage down and slowly heading back to Pearl. “We’ve got… The  _whole house_  just for ourselves.” She murmured.

   “That sounds just wonderful.” Pearl whispered the last word and tossed her arms around Lapis’ neck just as she placed hers around Pearl's waist.

   Lapis leaned over to Pearl, tugging her vautiously towards her body, lightly brushing her lips with her own and waiting for Pearl to join them.

   This light touch made Pearl giggle, but she refused to kiss Lapis just yet. Instead she kept brushing her lips from side to side, slowly. She felt Lapis’ breath as her lips parted, hearing an unsatisfied groan from her.

   “Pearl, don’t be like that.” Lapis protested, but chuckled, trying to steal a kiss from her, but Pearl managed to dodge her lips before she could.

   “Or what?” She grinned teasingly, pecking Lapis’ nose and nothing else.

   Lapis just frowned, and with a grin on her face, she shook her head slightly. “Let’s rather head to the kitchen.” Lapis offered.

   “I’m right behind you.” The taller girl smirked, and before she let go of Lapis, she finally gave her the kiss she was waiting for.

   Lapis led the way and once she reached the kitchen, she let Pearl go inside first. She then gently took her by her shoulders and whispered into the dark spreading in front of them. “Are you ready?”

   “For what?” Pearl giggled and cupped Lapis’ soft hands which were resting on her shoulders.

   “For surprise.” The girl clarified and slowly reached for the switch.

   “I suppose.” Pearl shrugged, leaving a shy chuckle escape her lips, blushing.

   “Alrighty.” Lapis grinned widely and lit on the light. “Happy birthday, big girl!”

   “… Ach, Lapis.” Pearl gasped and immediately cupped her mouth.

   There were colorful birthday balloons floating all round the room – twenty, Pearl guessed, just as her actual age was. There was a round table standing in the middle of the large room, decorated by fancy tablecloth with flower pattern and sprinkled with red heart-shaped confetti. On the table, there was a small birthday cake decorated with varied marzipan flowers – they just looked so real, Pearl thought. Then a pair of wine glasses was standing on the tabletop along with a bottle of red wine and two plates with spoons neatly settled next to them.

   Pearl felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Lapis, I… I-I don’t know what to say.” She nearly sobbed at how beautiful it all looked. She felt so honored, so thrilled and just immensely, infinitely happy. “I love it.” She finally let out a sob, turning straight to Lapis to give her the finest and most intense hug she could manage to make. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” She cried, wetting Lapis’ shirt as she vent, squeezing her tightly.

   “Wow, Pearl.” Lapis got a slight fright because of it and hugged Pearl back right away. She wasn’t expecting something like this could happen – namely that Pearl could get this touched. “Shh, sweetie, don’t cry.” She tried to hush her, then started to rock her instinctively.

   “It’s just… So, so beautiful.” Pearl sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

   “It’s okay.” Lapis chuckled softly and began scratching Pearl’s back soothingly.

   Pearl raised her head, her expression rather looked like she disagreed with her. “… It’s perfect.” She sighed.

   She stared down at Lapis, swallowing her with her eyes. ‘ _Why is she so amazing? Why is she being so nice to me? Do I even deserve it?_ ’ Pearl wondered, shaking her head without even knowing.

   Pearl sniffed for the last time and leaned towards Lapis once again, pressing her lips against hers. She kissed her gingerly, making Lapis’ mind become one big pile of mush as she began kissing her deeper.

   Lapis’ eyes turned backwards. She was fighting against gravity which was pulling her down as she was touching heavens and nearly passing out because of those delightful kisses, feeling so overwhelmed that her hands almost dropped down from Pearl’ back.

   Pearl cautiously separated her lips from Lapis’ and finally gave both of them some time to breathe again, meeting her eyes that reminded her of dark blue ocean waters. “… I love you.” Pearl panted.

   Redness dusted Lapis’ cheeks after that and a bright smile lit on her lips. “I love you, too.”

   “Thank you, Lapis. For everything.” She whispered, giving her a sweet, thankful smile. She turned back to the table, yet still she couldn’t get over how wonderful all that was. She had to count the balloons over and over again – there really were twenty of them. “What did I do to deserve all this?”

   Lapis just smiled at that with a soft hum, pulling Pearl into a hug as her back was pressed against Lapis’ torso, chin resting on her boney shoulder. “… So, shall we have a drink?” Lapis asked. She gently pulled Pearl’s peach hair lock behind her ear and placed a soft kiss onto it.

   “It’s really sweet of you, Lapis, but…” Pearl bit her lip, afraid that she could ruin this perfect moment with her response. “You know I don’t drink.” She rather whispered.

   Lapis smirked, because she knew about that, and also because she perfectly nailed this whole situation. “Then I’ve got good news for you. This wine’s non-alcoholic.”

   Pearl’s lips shaped into letter  _O_  and her brows rose. “But…” She chuckled. “I’ve never tried a wine before.”

   “There’s always first time for everything, darling.” Lapis blinked at her and took Pearl gently by her hand, leading her slowly towards the table. “Don’t worry, this one’s sweet. You’re gonna like it.”

   Pearl tried to bite back a giggle, but vainly.

   She felt as if she was someone special – she felt like if she was a princess with all this attention. “Alright.” She nodded, smiling brightly.

   She briefly watched Lapis as she was searching for something in cabinets and cupboards. She looked so cute when she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach them. Pearl sighed, leaning against the table, then her gaze dropped down onto the tabletop and the things resting on it. Everything was nicely organized, neat and color-matched, but what she adored the most was the flower cake – each flower had its specific shape and size, mostly they had white, pink or red hue and were decorated with pearls.

   “It’s gluten-free.” Lapis suddenly snapped Pearl out of her thoughts. She took the bottle of wine in her hand along with a cork puller and started opening it.

   “Oh, Lapis. You really think about everything.” Pearl remarked gently, blushing, and still astonished.

   “Sure thing.” The girl snorted and carefully she pulled the cork out of the bottle neck. She then brought the bottle to the wine glasses and filled Pearl’s one first.

   “But j-just a little, please.” The pale-skinned girl urged, although quite nervous.

   “Of course.” Lapis nodded with a smile on her face, then she filled her own glass, leaving the surface a bit higher than Pearl’s. “So.” She began and put the bottle down onto the table, taking her glass and spurring Pearl to take hers. “Cheers!”

   “Cheers!” Pearl blushed and clinked her glass against Lapis’ – the sound of it then resonated in her ears yet one minute after that.

   She pulled the glass towards her lips and cautiously she took a sip. This wine really smelled sweet, but the taste of it certainly wasn’t the same. It was a bit bitter for her taste and more aromatic than she thought it’d be, but beggars can’t be choosers, so she swallowed the mouthful as decent she was.

   “So, how is it?” Lapis grinned at the way Pearl was fighting it, and took another sip from her own glass.

   “It’s…” Pearl hesitated. Should she be honest? “It’s okay. I guess.”

   “Just give it a chance. It took me a while before I got used to that taste, too.” She admitted.

   Pearl blushed again. “Yeah. Maybe you’re right.” She looked down at the red liquid, noticing her own reflection mirroring on the surface.

   Suddenly a feeling like if the wine actually wasn’t that bad overcame her. She wanted to taste it again and so she went for it.

   It made Lapis laugh briefly. The look at Pearl was just amusing. “You don’t have to drink it all down at once, hon.”

   Pearl pulled her nose out of the glass and blushed under Lapis’ gaze, looking shyly back at her. Pearl then decided that maybe it’d be better to put the glass down and save the rest of the wine for later. She had to admit that it wasn’t bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis offered Pearl to come over to her home on Friday  
> • Pearl visited Lapis’ house for the first time  
> • Lapis fixed a small birthday party for Pearl  
> • Pearl tasted a wine
> 
> ♦ 12th week (Tuesday + Friday)


	36. Touch the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:**  
>  • explicit/mature content
> 
>  **PS:** This one is a "double" chapter, you guys! ^^ The explicit/mature part is skippable and is also available as a separate story with chapter 35 ("Shine Your Way") connected to it! You can find it on my work page under name "Touch the Sky". But now enjoy this chapter, folks! ;) :3

   Shortly after Lapis’ watch notified her of 6 o’clock, she was finally ready to set off. She got into her car and started off to Pearl’s place. Lapis was so excited to see her that much that every so often she managed to exceed the maximum speed limit in town. But before she could notice it, she was already standing next to the main door of the apartment building.

   She texted Pearl a message once she got out of her car and waited for her to arrive to the parking lot. And before Lapis could count to ten, Pearl was already down the stairs, carrying a bag on her shoulder and giving Lapis one sweet smile after another.

   “Hello, precious.” Lapis greeted in low, sweet voice, leaning her back against her Kodiaq. Her hands were resting in her pants pockets, one leg bent and foot resting against the car door.

   Pearl was quite stunned by her look – those torn jeans and checked shirt with combination of pink and turquoise color really suited her, and yet especially with that enchanting smile dancing on her lips.

   Pearl almost stumbled over while her eyes were fixed on her. The closer to Lapis she was, the slower she went and the quicker her cheeks were turning red.

   “What is it?” The blue-haired girl chuckled, noticing Pearl’s suspicious behavior. Slowly she pulled away from her car and headed towards Pearl to help her with the luggage.

   “How come you’re more beautiful every day?” Pearl shook her head as if she didn’t believe that Lapis really looked as pretty as she saw her.

   “Aw, you’re such a sweetheart.” Lapis smiled and placed a soft kiss onto Pearl's mouth, then bent down to take her bag. “Here, let me help you.”

   “Thank you.” Pearl bit her lip and handed her bag to Lapis. “You’re gorgeous.”

   “I know. That’s why you love me.” Lapis dared say with a smirk, placing the luggage to the back seat and closing the door. Then she opened the front one for Pearl, gesturing for her to get aboard. “Milady.”

   Pearl stood frozen for a brief moment after all that she’s just heard, but then she softly laughed, cupping her mouth before she headed towards the passenger seat. “What a gesture.” She chuckled and gently pecked Lapis’ cheek, then entered the car, leaving faint blush on the girl's face.

   “I missed you, honey.” Pearl admitted, squeezing her hands between her knees as she was watching Lapis buckling up.

   “I missed you, too.” Lapis smiled and then leaned over to Pearl to give her a tiny sweet smooch again. “You have no idea how much I was looking forward to this day.”

   “Were you?” Pearl’s light brows rose.

   “Yeah.” Lapis started the car, turning the steering wheel to the side, so she could get to the main road. “This all week was just so boring and tiring. I’m glad it’s finally over.”

   Pearl chuckled softly and leaned her elbow against the window, chin resting in her palm as she was looking outside. “Not quite yet.”

   Lapis’ dark eyes slightly widened. She turned her head to Pearl and grinned immediately as she saw her smiling back at her.

 

   The ride back took a bit longer then the ride there, but both girls enjoyed it. They were chatting about varied topics while passing through the slowly emptying evening streets, and when they were not, they were simply holding hands – well, when Lapis wasn’t engaging a gear at the time. They talked about everything that happened the past few days they were apart and never missed any detail. They were laughing, giggling, trying to hide their reddening cheeks and avoiding one another’s eyes as one was caught staring at the other. But soon as the ride came to an end, those cute, innocent glimpses did as well, though those shy smiles never left their faces.

   Lapis opened the passenger door for Pearl and waited for her to come out, then she took Pearl’s bag from the back seat. She locked the car when she heard Pearl gasp behind her.

   “Wow… So, this… Is your house?” Pearl froze on a spot, her chin lightly dropped.

   The house was huge, both wide and high, surrounded by neatly-looking garden. It was beautiful two-storey house with an open garage with two parking places right under the balcony and enormous amount of flowers and plants all over the place. And on top of that, the whole area was decorated with outdoor light bulbs that made the whole exterior yet brighter during the actual golden twilight. Pearl so loved all types of lights, especially in the very dark, but still, this looked really pretty to her. She would never stop gasping in amazement how incredibly beautiful this place was. She had to admit it really was something. Now this was how she imagined heaven.

   “Yeah.” Lapis grinned and stood beside Pearl, surrounding her slim waist with her arm. “Welcome to my home.”

   “It’s so… So pretty and…” Pearl shook her head, still astonished by everything she was seeing, hoping they didn’t have a car crash and neither she was standing in front of Pearly gates. “Those lights... And-and flowers… Lapis, it’s so beautiful here.”

   Lapis had to chuckle at the way Pearl tried to express herself. She also couldn’t forgive herself giving the girl a kiss onto her cheek, tugging her closer with her hand while the other was carrying Pearl’s luggage. “Heh, it’s alright… But I guess I can see why you like it.” She smirked and briefly watched the scenery before she spoke again. “… Do you wanna take moment?”

   “Yes, please.” Pearl asked and with a soft, enchanted sigh she laid her head down onto Lapis’ shoulder.

 

   “Is there someone I could say hi to?” Pearl asked right as she entered the house, following Lapis along the hallway.

   “Oh, no, no. They’ve all gone for a vacation.” The girl announced, placing the luggage down and slowly heading back to Pearl. “We’ve got… The  _whole house_  just for ourselves.” She murmured.

   “That sounds just wonderful.” Pearl whispered the last word and tossed her arms around Lapis’ neck just as she placed hers around Pearl's waist.

   Lapis leaned over to Pearl, tugging her vautiously towards her body, lightly brushing her lips with her own and waiting for Pearl to join them.

   This light touch made Pearl giggle, but she refused to kiss Lapis just yet. Instead she kept brushing her lips from side to side, slowly. She felt Lapis’ breath as her lips parted, hearing an unsatisfied groan from her.

   “Pearl, don’t be like that.” Lapis protested, but chuckled, trying to steal a kiss from her, but Pearl managed to dodge her lips before she could.

   “Or what?” She grinned teasingly, pecking Lapis’ nose and nothing else.

   Lapis just frowned, and with a grin on her face, she shook her head slightly. “Let’s rather head to the kitchen.” Lapis offered.

   “I’m right behind you.” The taller girl smirked, and before she let go of Lapis, she finally gave her the kiss she was waiting for.

   Lapis led the way and once she reached the kitchen, she let Pearl go inside first. She then gently took her by her shoulders and whispered into the dark spreading in front of them. “Are you ready?”

   “For what?” Pearl giggled and cupped Lapis’ soft hands which were resting on her shoulders.

   “For surprise.” The girl clarified and slowly reached for the switch.

   “I suppose.” Pearl shrugged, leaving a shy chuckle escape her lips, blushing.

   “Alrighty.” Lapis grinned widely and lit on the light. “Happy birthday, big girl!”

   “… Ach, Lapis.” Pearl gasped and immediately cupped her mouth.

   There were colorful birthday balloons floating all round the room – twenty, Pearl guessed, just as her actual age was. There was a round table standing in the middle of the large room, decorated by fancy tablecloth with flower pattern and sprinkled with red heart-shaped confetti. On the table, there was a small birthday cake decorated with varied marzipan flowers – they just looked so real, Pearl thought. Then a pair of wine glasses was standing on the tabletop along with a bottle of red wine and two plates with spoons neatly settled next to them.

   Pearl felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Lapis, I… I-I don’t know what to say.” She nearly sobbed at how beautiful it all looked. She felt so honored, so thrilled and just immensely, infinitely happy. “I love it.” She finally let out a sob, turning straight to Lapis to give her the finest and most intense hug she could manage to make. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” She cried, wetting Lapis’ shirt as she vent, squeezing her tightly.

   “Wow, Pearl.” Lapis got a slight fright because of it and hugged Pearl back right away. She wasn’t expecting something like this could happen – namely that Pearl could get this touched. “Shh, sweetie, don’t cry.” She tried to hush her, then started to rock her instinctively.

   “It’s just… So, so beautiful.” Pearl sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

   “It’s okay.” Lapis chuckled softly and began scratching Pearl’s back soothingly.

   Pearl raised her head, her expression rather looked like she disagreed with her. “… It’s perfect.” She sighed.

   She stared down at Lapis, swallowing her with her eyes. ‘ _Why is she so amazing? Why is she being so nice to me? Do I even deserve it?_ ’ Pearl wondered, shaking her head without even knowing.

   Pearl sniffed for the last time and leaned towards Lapis once again, pressing her lips against hers. She kissed her gingerly, making Lapis’ mind become one big pile of mush as she began kissing her deeper.

   Lapis’ eyes turned backwards. She was fighting against gravity which was pulling her down as she was touching heavens and nearly passing out because of those delightful kisses, feeling so overwhelmed that her hands almost dropped down from Pearl’ back.

   Pearl cautiously separated her lips from Lapis’ and finally gave both of them some time to breathe again, meeting her eyes that reminded her of dark blue ocean waters. “… I love you.” Pearl panted.

   Redness dusted Lapis’ cheeks after that and a bright smile lit on her lips. “I love you, too.”

   “Thank you, Lapis. For everything.” She whispered, giving her a sweet, thankful smile. She turned back to the table, yet still she couldn’t get over how wonderful all that was. She had to count the balloons over and over again – there really were twenty of them. “What did I do to deserve all this?”

   Lapis just smiled at that with a soft hum, pulling Pearl into a hug as her back was pressed against Lapis’ torso, chin resting on her boney shoulder. “… So, shall we have a drink?” Lapis asked. She gently pulled Pearl’s peach hair lock behind her ear and placed a soft kiss onto it.

   “It’s really sweet of you, Lapis, but…” Pearl bit her lip, afraid that she could ruin this perfect moment with her response. “You know I don’t drink.” She rather whispered.

   Lapis smirked, because she knew about that, and also because she perfectly nailed this whole situation. “Then I’ve got good news for you. This wine’s non-alcoholic.”

   Pearl’s lips shaped into letter  _O_  and her brows rose. “But…” She chuckled. “I’ve never tried a wine before.”

   “There’s always first time for everything, darling.” Lapis blinked at her and took Pearl gently by her hand, leading her slowly towards the table. “Don’t worry, this one’s sweet. You’re gonna like it.”

   Pearl tried to bite back a giggle, but vainly.

   She felt as if she was someone special – she felt like if she was a princess with all this attention. “Alright.” She nodded, smiling brightly.

   She briefly watched Lapis as she was searching for something in cabinets and cupboards. She looked so cute when she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach them. Pearl sighed, leaning against the table, then her gaze dropped down onto the tabletop and the things resting on it. Everything was nicely organized, neat and color-matched, but what she adored the most was the flower cake – each flower had its specific shape and size, mostly they had white, pink or red hue and were decorated with pearls.

   “It’s gluten-free.” Lapis suddenly snapped Pearl out of her thoughts. She took the bottle of wine in her hand along with a cork puller and started opening it.

   “Oh, Lapis. You really think about everything.” Pearl remarked gently, blushing, and still astonished.

   “Sure thing.” The girl snorted and carefully she pulled the cork out of the bottle neck. She then brought the bottle to the wine glasses and filled Pearl’s one first.

   “But j-just a little, please.” The pale-skinned girl urged, although quite nervous.

   “Of course.” Lapis nodded with a smile on her face, then she filled her own glass, leaving the surface a bit higher than Pearl’s. “So.” She began and put the bottle down onto the table, taking her glass and spurring Pearl to take hers. “Cheers!”

   “Cheers!” Pearl blushed and clinked her glass against Lapis’ – the sound of it then resonated in her ears yet one minute after that.

   She pulled the glass towards her lips and cautiously she took a sip. This wine really smelled sweet, but the taste of it certainly wasn’t the same. It was a bit bitter for her taste and more aromatic than she thought it’d be, but beggars can’t be choosers, so she swallowed the mouthful as decent she was.

   “So, how is it?” Lapis grinned at the way Pearl was fighting it, and took another sip from her own glass.

   “It’s…” Pearl hesitated. Should she be honest? “It’s okay. I guess.”

   “Just give it a chance. It took me a while before I got used to that taste, too.” She admitted.

   Pearl blushed again. “Yeah. Maybe you’re right.” She looked down at the red liquid, noticing her own reflection mirroring on the surface.

   Suddenly a feeling like if the wine actually wasn’t that bad overcame her. She wanted to taste it again and so she went for it.

   It made Lapis laugh briefly. The look at Pearl was just amusing. “You don’t have to drink it all down at once, hon.”

   Pearl pulled her nose out of the glass and blushed under Lapis’ gaze, looking shyly back at her. Pearl then decided that maybe it’d be better to put the glass down and save the rest of the wine for later. She had to admit that it wasn’t bad after all.

 

   The stair steps were creaking as Pearl followed Lapis upstairs. For some reason Lapis wanted to keep the light off, and that certainly made the trail Lapis went difficult to find, though Pearl coped that quite well.

   Once Pearl heard a door opening, she saw faint blue light that permeated through the dark, wafting from the open room towards her along the hall.

   Lapis stood next to the open door and gestured for Pearl to enter the room, Pearl’s bag hanging down her shoulder.

   Pearl blushed and with a slight nod she swung her body in, hands folded behind her back. Lapis followed her and put Pearl’s things aside of a bed, closing the door.

   “So, this is where I sleep.” She said proudly, watching Pearl standing still and darting her eyes round the room. It was immersed in Lapis’ lava lamp’s blue light. The room wasn’t big, but rather comfy as the stable attic. There were two high-framed beds, one on each side of the room, hemming the wall. Between the beds, there was a writing desk with a laptop, tiny cactus and a small bookcase hanging on the wall right above it. There was one large closet in the room, a fancy seating bag and a rectangular carpet in the center of the wooden floor.

   “You’ve got two beds?” Pearl asked, a bit disappointed this was the first thing that actually popped up in her mind. She really liked the room – it was simple, but stylish.

   “Um, no.” Lapis chuckled. “One of them is sister’s. We share the room, but basically it’s just hers. I show up here twice per month, so that’s why.” She explained, hearing Pearl humming.

   “I see.” Pearl nodded, rubbing her chin between her thumb and forefinger. “So, which one is yours?” She turned to Lapis, asking her in effort to find out in which bed she was about to sleep.

   “That one.” Lapis gestured towards the one that was farther from the window, on their right side. “But… We can always join the beds together if you want.” She offered as if she knew the reason why Pearl was actually asking.

   Pearl smirked, but had to hide behind her hand, taking a moment to process the offer. She hummed, scanning over the room again. “Mm… I think one bed will be enough.”

   She noticed Lapis’ head turning to her, but couldn’t make out what expression was on her face – hopefully the one she was expecting to find, namely an approving one.

   “You know…” Lapis snickered briefly, coming to Pearl from behind and placing her hands gently onto her hips. “It’s actually not a bad idea.” She spoke softly into her ear, then kissed it.

   Pearl blushed faintly. She found Lapis’ arms hugging her around her waist. Her own hands then dropped down to hold onto Lapis’. Pearl smiled. “… I really like the room.” She confessed after a brief moment of silence.

   “I appreciate it.” Lapis whispered, the corners of her lips curled up. She rested her chin against Pearl’s shoulder, recalling the mess that was in this room just an hour ago.

   “ _I_  do appreciate it.” Pearl emphasized. “I appreciate everything-I mean… Those lights, those balloons, the cake and wine…” She sighed dreamily. “It’s just… Amazing.  _You_  are amazing.”

   Lapis blushed at the compliment and looked aside shyly. “And it’s… Not quite all yet.” She remarked and Pearl’s eyes grew wide.

   “What? There’s more?” Surprised, she turned her head towards Lapis.

   The smaller girl nodded, but that was all she did besides the remaining smile on her lips.

   “But, Lapis…” Pearl tried, but Lapis was already on her way towards the writing desk ahead of them.

   “No buts.” She declared gently, then grabbed a handle and opened one of the three drawers there.

   Pearl couldn’t guess what, but noticed Lapis pulling out something from there, but in the end her curiosity led her to the girl and the mystery she was holding in her hands.

   When Lapis turned around, she carried a beautiful grin on her lips, holding something reminiscent of a square box that was wrapped in a wrapping paper and tied up in big layered bow.

   Pearl gasped, mouth immediately cupped with her hands. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes once again. “Lapis…” She sniffed, processing the surge of emotions.

   “Happy birthday once again.” Lapis whispered cautiously and handed Pearl the box.

   “Lapis… I-I can’t. I can’t take it.” Pearl shook her head, but chuckled. “I don’t even deserve this much… Attention.”

   “Of course you do.” Lapis persuaded and carefully stepped closer to Pearl, offering her that beautiful box.

   “Ach, Lapis.” Pearl sighed.

   A soft grin was Lapis’ response, making Pearl accept the gift and refuse no more.

   Pearl sighed again, defeated, though there still was a smile on her face along with a faint dust of redness. She took the ribbon and pulled it to untie the bow, then removed the cover and put it onto the tabletop. Out the box she pulled quite big matt-glass ball with a tangled cable connected to it. She also noticed some ornaments decorating the glass, but in the muffled light of the room she couldn’t recognize or specify what these ornaments were.

   “Is it a table lamp?” Pearl asked curiously, she already liked the design of it, though it was just a ball of milky glass.

   “And not some ordinary table lamp.” Lapis introduced.

   “Oh?” Pearl looked at her briefly, than back at the glass, interested in its hidden magic.

   “Here, let me show you.” Lapis offered. Pearl handed her the lamp and curiously watched her.

   Lapis put the round lamp onto the writing desk and plugged the cable into socket, then headed towards the window to switch off her blue lava lamp. “We’re all set.” She said, shutting the light off, and walked back to the desk. “Ready?”

   “Yeah.” Pearl giggled, biting her lip and shivering as an excited child. She sat onto her girlfriend’s bed and waited for her to switch the lamp on.

   “Here we go~.” Lapis proclaimed melodically and turned the light on.

   Suddenly Pearl understood those ornaments she couldn’t recognize before. The room lit up in shapes of stars, planets and constellations; decorating every surface, ceiling and all four walls.

   “Oh-my-goodness.” Pearl gasped, her eyes brightened. She gaped up excitedly, recognizing all the constellations as in the real sky.

   “Now you can watch stars even if it’s cloudy outside. Pretty cool, right?” Lapis chuckled and joined Pearl on her bed.

   “It’s the  _coolest_  thing I’ve ever seen.” Pearl admitted. She couldn’t put her eyes away from the star-spangled ceiling. “… Ah, thank you, sweetheart.” Pearl swallowed the lump growing in her throat. She leaned over to Lapis and tossed her arms around her neck, leaning softly into her and eventually making both of them fall onto the mattress.

   A light kiss landed onto Lapis’ lips just before Pearl pulled back to lean against her elbows and look Lapis in the eyes. “Could we leave the light on overnight?” Pearl asked wishfully, grinning brightly.

   “I always wanted to kiss under a night sky.” Lapis wiggled her eyebrows.

   Pearl laughed briefly at the look at her, but then leaned closer and began kissing Lapis once again, unable to stop smiling the whole time, kissing the girl sweetly and carefully.

   Maybe it didn't seem like it, but Pearl was incredibly astonished about the lamp. She didn't even know that these types of things existed until now. She watched the ceiling while Lapis held her hand. Pearl simply couldn't get tired of that view, even though the light was just a simulation of the real sky. The more the accuracy of it fascinated her, because it looked so real.

 

   Lapis took a chance to clean the kitchen while Pearl was taking a shower then; cleaning the dishes and putting party leftovers into fridge.

   The cake was different from these Lapis was used to, but still it was delicious even when it was gluten-free. The taste of it was yet remaining on Lapis’ tongue, and the red wine either wasn’t bad – Pearl conceded and even thought of tasting an alcoholic one next time, although she knew that the taste of it will certainly be a bit different.

   When Lapis got upstairs after getting the kitchen in order, Pearl was already waiting in the bedroom, sitting on well made bed with hands squeezed between her knees. She looked down from the walls as she noticed the door opening.

   “Darling, I’m gonna take a shower now. I’ll be back in a minute.” Lapis announced, knowing about the bathroom being already free to use. But before could Lapis gather her things and head to the bathroom, something stopped her on her way there yet before she could leave the room.

   “Sure.” Pearl’s whisper sounded in the silence and made Lapis turn her head towards it.

   Pearl was silently sitting on the bed, gazing at the floor. After several seconds she realized that she was being watched by Lapis who stood frozen in the doorway. Pearl could feel her dark eyes on her, yet it made her heart flutter.

   “Pearl.” Lapis let out a sigh, struggling to stop herself from taking a step towards her. “You look just… Enchanting.” She blushed. Pearl’s nightwear, consisting of an undershirt with baby panda and panties decorated with lace, looked more than just cute on her.

   Lapis swallowed, partly because of the growing amount of saliva inside her mouth and partly because she wanted to focus on something else before she could possibly lose her mind and end up lying down on the floor in daze only because of Pearl's beauty.

   “Thank you.” Pearl bit her lip, resisting blushing.

   Stammer out all the words that were on Lapis’ tongue at that moment took her quite long, but soon enough she managed to snap herself out of the stupor and get herself to the bathroom. The worse part of it all was trying not to slip in the shower corner while spending time with imagining particular things – namely Pearl stripping out of her clothes. Lapis was imagining this quite often though, but why was she feeling odd by that this time?

 

   Pearl waited for her, sitting silently and still on the high bed, barely touching the floor with her tiptoes. She watched the bright night sky, scanning over the star clusters, planets and all the constellations which consisted of tangles of dots connected with lines.

   After a few minutes, Pearl thought of changing her position, and as this idea became inevitable, she shifted backwards and leaned her back against the wall, hands folded in her lap. She began counting stars, not aware of the smile growing on her face.

   Several long minutes passed and Pearl could finally hear the door opening along with light footfalls, however, Pearl remained counting stars above her head, feet swinging as if she was listening to some slow, inaudible music.

   There was a muffled rustling in the background, but Pearl’s eyes never left the ceiling – she was way too fascinated to look elsewhere than the projected galaxy.

   The rustling suddenly fell silent and Pearl started wondering what could Lapis be doing, but before Pearl could find out herself, she could sense a figure stand in front of her. Pearl’s head slowly dropped down to look at the figure standing there, and her jaw nearly followed.

   Lapis was it, seeming calm, with a confident expression on her face, though she was boiling from the inside, shivering both from nervousness and excitement, yet she was trying her best to make it as less visible as possible.

   Pearl began having a hard time with restoring her breathing. She was neither able to breathe nor blink at that time. She felt like her eyes could fall out their sockets any second. Her hands started sweating.

   Lapis wore beautiful, simple night robe, long just as to cover the upper part of her thighs. One sleeve was a bit lower than the other, thus Lapis’ freckled shoulder was lightly exposed, such as her chest, yet the particular parts were hidden from Pearl’s sign. The robe was perfectly hemming Lapis’ body and was neatly tied up in one big bow at her waist. Pearl never thought that red could suit Lapis this well.

   Pearl’s chin finally dropped and she managed to catch a moment to breathe in after a minute of staring.

   “… Are you ready to unwrap another gift, Pearlie?” Lapis smirked and ran her hand through her blue hair, brushing her bangs away from her forehead.

   “…” Pearl swallowed an inhale, eyes wide as dinner plates. Suddenly she realized she was no longer leaning her back against the wall. She started wondering if she should join it again to cool down and come back to her senses, though her body decided to continue the opposite direction. She shifted to the edge of the bed, feet hanging from it once again, but that was all she was able to do for now. Her breath stuck somewhere between her throat and lungs and still she couldn’t find herself blink even once.

   Lapis chuckled, perceiving that Pearl was just as shocked and nervous as Lapis was herself, only Lapis had an advantage of controlling herself so that one could barely notice that something was going on inside her. “I don’t bite.” She then announced playfully as Pearl didn't seem to react any dramatically.

   “… I’m afraid you do.” Pearl remarked, tittering, yet still she was getting used to the view which was practically Lapis’ low neckline.

   Lapis grinned and ran her hand through her hair once more. “I won’t. I promise.” She pledged, though that smirk on her face was making Pearl rather unsure about it.

   Pearl eventually became able to blink, yet somehow she couldn’t remember when her hands managed to take the ends of Lapis’ satin belt. She realized it later when she sensed Lapis’s knee gingerly sliding over the bed sheets along her thigh.

   Lapis let out a sigh and grabbed Pearl by her jaw with both her hands, pulling her into a kiss – gentle first, but the more busses was Lapis giving, the more eager and passionate they were.

   Pearl’s heart started beating in alarm as Lapis brought her other leg up to the bed and straddled above Pearl’s thighs. It was rare for Pearl to sense a sudden wave of lust rushing through her body, and in some way she felt like this feeling wanted to get control over her. Pearl didn’t know why. Was it because of Lapis’ night outfit? Was it her blissful fragrance or just her attitude? Or was it simply a combination of all these options? That would be definitely way more understandable in that case.

   Lapis carefully sat down into Pearl’s lap and with a slight wiggle she settled in, keeping their lips joined together and setting Pearl’s heart on fire.

   For some reason Pearl felt relieved that she sensed Lapis wearing underwear, but on the other hand, she wondered if that was the only thing Lapis was wearing under her robe… And Pearl quite wished it was.

   Pearl’s hands tugged at Lapis’ waist and pulled her body closer, yet she let a small space between them, just so she could manipulate with the ends of the satin ribbon. Pearl toyed with them for a bit until her hands found their way towards Lapis’ butt and lightly squeezed it.

   Their lips separated for a moment, just so Lapis could bit her lip while enjoying Pearl’s hands holding her so kindly, but then she rejoined Pearl’s sweet lips again. Lapis bit down at them carefully, kept tasting and nuzzling them. Her tanned fingers were toying with Pearl's peach hair, stroking her cheeks and jaw line as silent smacking of their lips could be heard.

   Pearl enjoyed Lapis’ tenderness along with those light, fond busses she was giving her. Pearl’s body began trembling and instead of blood, she felt like there was lava running through her veins, bubbling and exploding. Lapis kept gasping for more, stealing Pearl’s breath and kisses as her pale hands were travelling all over her back, butt and thighs.

   Pearl was curious about what was hiding behind the red cloth, but she was too shy to investigate. Perhaps if she’d ask Lapis for permission, she could try to explore the unexplored, yet still she couldn’t get over those delicious kisses and neither had time for questions. Her mind was too distracted and focused at the same time.

   Lapis’ hands slid down Pearl’s slender neck, scanning her collarbones with her fingertips. Her full lips moved down to kiss Pearl’s neck and throat. She could sense Pearl swallow as she reached it, and it tugged a smile on Lapis' lips.

   Then Lapis’ hands slowly travelled down along Pearl’s chest, delicately brushing over her nipples. Pearl’s response was just a soft, innocent whine which was immediately followed by another one as Lapis repeated the action.

   Chills ran over Pearl’s fragile body, leaving her shivering with eyes shut and mouth locked in a tight line.

   Carefully, Lapis’ hands slid lower and rubbed at Pearl’s abs ever so fondly while her lips became busy with kissing her mouth again. Her fingertips hid under the hem of Pearl’s undershirt and started inconspicuously slipping up.

   For the first time in her life, Pearl wished those hands went faster, but unfortunately they were shifting the slowest way possible – and it was so irritating! Pearl let out a dissatisfied groan, urging Lapis to increase the speed, but Lapis refused to comply with a teasing smirk on her face.

   Pearl wanted to feel Lapis’ kind fingers, those that were treating her so well the last time, but the time they were arriving was lasting longer than an eternity. Once again Pearl moaned and let Lapis be aware of her growing frustration, but Lapis minded to tease Pearl for a bit first, one hand slipping up while the other remained tickling Pearl’s abdomen.

   Lapis was touching her flat chest, leaving nothing untouched but her breasts. Lapis’ lips pressed harder at the other girl and with a light press of her hand against Pearl’s chest, she forced the girl to lie down onto her back.

   Her hand eventually ended up on one of Pearl’s breasts. Slowly she circled her fingers around the small, soft nipple. The pressure of her fingers then became lighter with every next circle – certainly in effort to make Pearl’s pleading more frequent and urgent.

   Pearl’s hands greedily ran into Lapis’ hair to pull her closer, kissing her deeply. She kept pleading for more kisses every time she received one, feeling waves of goosebumps flowing over her skin. She sensed electric impulses running through her entire body, she could feel her very core gathering something inside her – a fluid? Well, the most important thing at that moment was that the harder was Lapis massaging her belly, the fuller of that fluid Pearl felt.

   Lapis’ lips slid down from Pearl’s lips to her throat again, leaving marks of her teeth all over her collar bone then. She kissed the center of her ribcage and gingerly continued lower to explore more, placing there kiss by kiss with every next inch until she reached Pearl’s belly. Then, for a moment, Lapis stopped and stared at it, thinking. Her hand rejoined the other just above Pearl’s pelvis, then Lapis grabbed the hem of her night shirt. She looked at Pearl hesitantly. “… May I?”

   Pearl knew exactly what her intention was, and almost instantly she nodded at it, however, the world started spinning just as Lapis began rolling her panda shirt up. Pearl arched her back enough to help Lapis effectively strip her out of her shirt.

   Once her shirt was off, Pearl laid herself back down, but now it felt like everything has stopped – her heart, her breath, the time. Pearl wasn’t aware of where she should put her hands – well, certainly she couldn’t cross them on her chest. She was almost afraid of looking up at Lapis, though she wanted to. She was curious about the look of her expression, though she was extremely shy and embarrassed. This was the first time someone saw her topless. Pearl never felt this ashamed of her flat chest, until now when it was entirely exposed right in front of Lapis.

   Eventually, as Pearl gathered enough courage, her eyes darted up to her girlfriend. A corner of Pearl’s lips slightly curled up as she blushed.

   Lapis’ eyes sparkled. Her heart stopped, then couldn’t find a regular rhythm. As she considered the moment of staring was lasting too long, she cleared throat and bit her lip. “You’re… So beautiful, Pearl.” Lapis flushed.

   Pearl shyly looked aside, redness spreading across her cheeks and tips of her ears. She then sensed a shadow leaning over to her, and recognized it was her beloved Lapis. Her heart started pounding wildly when their chests connected – the cotton robe felt pleasant against her skin. “Thanks…” Pearl flushed yet more. She hugged Lapis around her neck as she started planting kisses all over her pale face and neck.

   It quite tickled, and Pearl couldn’t stop giggling. Lapis’ hair was brushing her skin so lightly, just as the tip of her nose and lips were, wandering over her chest and exploring its surface. Lapis dared biting Pearl’s breasts, carefully and gently. She bit down at the tiny stiff button there, hearing Pearl moan at the very first contact with it, and placing tender kisses there, yet resisting to lick it.

   Pearl trembled twice, refusing to be any louder or pass out. She bit her lip hard and clutched onto Lapis’ hair, getting used to that soft, warm tongue tasting her then.

   “Ah… Mmmm.” Pearl’s eyes closed shut. With every slip of that wonderful tongue she felt like a bolt of lightning ran through her. Pearl wondered if clenching Lapis’ hair hurt her. Well, certainly, because Pearl’s grip was getting tighter and tighter with every next lick. Her eyes rolled backwards. “Lapis… Mmmhm.”

   A moment later, Lapis considered that it’d be more than suitable to treat the other side as well, so she shifted her head a little bit and started working on it, and yet more thoroughly.

   “Awh-mmmm… Mhm.” Pearl groaned. She perceived Lapis’ hand returning to finish its previous progress, toying with her nipple and massaging it while her lips worked on the other one.

   Pearl could almost see heaven. She felt like she could touch the sky, yet still she couldn’t believe this. Was all this just a dream? This perfect, glorious moment? All the heavenly touches and treatment? Hopefully not.

   It was hard for Pearl to keep her breath steady, to keep all these moans inside. Her grip on Lapis tightened yet again and Pearl decided to bring her up, so she could cry into her mouth. It was hard to persuade Lapis at first, because what she was tasting was extremely delicious, but eventually she acquiesced and sank into Pearl’s lips.

   The core of Pearl’s body was boiling, ready to explode. All these senses were so strong, making her sweat, making her cry, pant and tremble. Once she was even in doubt if she could hold it together like this. Those touches were just too delightful to keep her feet on the ground.

   Lapis gave Pearl one last kiss and pulled away to let Pearl catch her breath – she was obviously done even after this, Lapis thought. It made her smile.

   Pearl sighed, taking a moment to come back to earth. She closed her eyes for a minute.

   “Are you okay, dear?” Lapis asked, grinning down at her.

   “Yeah.” Pearl breathed out a smile. Her eyes opened, just so she could find Lapis’ cheeks to take and pull her back to herself.

   Lapis was just as red as Pearl. Even in the faint light of the stars she could see it.

   Once again Pearl’s lips moved forward to meet Lapis’. Faint smacking was circling round the room, just as their quiet gasps.

   Pearl’s fingers travelled down along Lapis’ neck, then slid down her chest and finally reached the ribbon – she couldn’t help it, but the material was just enjoyable at touch.

   Pearl resisted looking at Lapis’ low neckline which was practically right below her eyes. It was tugging them there like a magnet, but she never looked.

   Lapis could sense Pearl faintly tugging at the ribbon, and she could guess her intention, too, so Lapis leaned back and straightened in her back to give Pearl a hand then.

   Pearl stared at her hesitantly, darting her eyes all over Lapis, scanning over the curves of her perfect body. The starshine up the ceiling behind her head made her look like she was someone saint, like if she was an angel – and very attractive one. Pearl inhaled and then breathed out, ready to make a move.

   Slowly she pulled the ends of the ribbon away from one another and untied the bow. The edges of Lapis’ robe spread to sides, and with a faint shrug and help of her tanned hands, Lapis let the night robe fall from her shoulders, revealing a magnificent view.

   Drops of sweat were rolling down Pearl’s forehead, she was unable to accept what she saw. Lapis’ body was at most perfect, seeming fragile but tough at once. But one specific spot was forbidding Pearl from looking elsewhere this time – her chest. It was certainly different from hers, Pearl thought. Lapis’ breasts weren’t big, but neither they were small. The size of them was just fine to grab in one's hands. Her breasts just looked different hidden under clothes than exposed - thank God, Pearl sighed enchantedly. She was melting like a snow. Pearl tried her hardest to snap herself out of the ecstasy, feeling awkward about staring at Lapis like that, though it rather amused the girl.

   Lapis leaned towards the girl below her and leaned against her elbow on each side of Pearl’s head. Her lips kept Pearl busy for a while then, even when her slender hands started to wander – a blissful hum sounded in Lapis’ throat as Pearl slid her hands over her breasts, yet doubtfully at first.

   Pearl wondered if she could make Lapis feel as good as Lapis could make her, but she was afraid of spoiling something, doing a wrong move or something Lapis would dislike. However, she decided to risk it. Pearl felt like this was a perfect moment to pay Lapis back for everything she’s done for her, to prove that Pearl appreciated it. Lapis deserved it – for the whole time she was waiting for Pearl, waiting for a moment like this.

   The tips of Pearl’s fingers met Lapis' two buttons, feeling their smooth surface. Lapis let out a soft groan, and it was a good sign for Pearl. She continued then, making tiny circles around her stiffening nipples, brushing over them and pinching them ever so kindly. It was a bit strange, but it also felt good, and not just for Lapis. Pearl enjoyed it, too. She never had an opportunity to do this type of activity with someone else.

   She was swallowing Lapis’ sighs while kissing her. Suddenly Pearl wondered, how come she’s never tried a French kiss? But could she want this from Lapis? Would it be better if she’d rather done it instead of asking first? That didn’t matter. Pearl’s body was aching for it way too much to ask questions.

   Her tongue slipped out her lips then and lightly brushed over Lapis’. The blue-haired girl quite seemed to be taken aback because of it, however, she was pleased and kindly joined Pearl.

   It was interesting, Pearl thought. The kiss was soft and wet. She continued and investigated Lapis’ mouth further, licking and tasting her sweet tongue with her own.

   “Wow, Pearl.” Lapis gulped once she departed from her. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re into these things?” She joked.

   Pearl shrugged, blushing. “I’m just… Experimenting.”

   Lapis smiled sweetly, unable to resist giving Pearl another kiss, and then laid her head down onto the pale girl’s chest, nuzzling and settling in.

   Pearl hugged Lapis around her head, pressing her towards herself affectionately, blue hair tickling her chin. Then she looked up at the ceiling, recalling the moment Lapis reminded her of an angel as the stars were shining from behind her. She remembered the moment when she felt like touching heavens.

   “… Lapis?” She muttered, cheeks turning darker shade of red.

   “Yeah?” Lapis reacted, but remained still, eyes closed.

   Pearl swallowed, getting ready to get out the particular words on her chest. “How does… First time feel?”

   First, Lapis’ eyes slowly opened, then her head rose from Pearl. Lapis tried to remember. “Well, for most people… Embarrassing. I guess.” She chuckled, then watched Pearl quietly. “Why are you asking?”

   Pearl said nothing, feeling already too embarrassed to answer that. There still was this feeling at the bottom of her pelvis. She knew what that was, and wondered what the right option to do with it would be. Well, she could guess.

   She shot a quick look at Lapis, but couldn’t stay looking at her for too long. She flushed entirely, looking aside with her lip clenched between her teeth.

   “… Do you… Wanna try it?” Lapis asked carefully, and for her surprise, it didn’t take Pearl too long before she nodded.

   “Ah, alright.” Lapis gave it a faint nod, placing a tender smooch onto Pearl's mouth.

   Slowly she rolled over to Pearl’s side. As Lapis was lying on her side right next to Pearl, she supported her head with her hand while leaning against her elbow, settling in a comfortable position for both of them.

   Pearl suddenly felt cold when Lapis’ body was away from hers. She shivered, but rather from an excitement than because of the cold air around her. But then it rapidly changed when Lapis’ hot hand landed on her chest. Pearl turned her head to her and her heart jolted. It was really happening.

   ' _Oh my god. Is this actually happening? Is she really going to do it?_ " Pearl asked herself while staring at Lapis. She began shaking. '...  _Am_  I _really going to do it?_ '

   Lapis watched her for a moment, gathering as much information from her eyes as possible. She could feel that Pearl was slightly frightened and nervous, so she gave her a little bit more space yet. But then she gingerly started stroking Pearl with the tips of her fingers, visiting the two small hills with yet smaller ones in the center of them. First she brushed over one nipple, making several tiny circles around it, then slid it once again and again and enjoyed its hardness. She watched carefully Pearl’s reactions; her mouth which she was urgently trying to keep closed, but was failing.

   Another nipple was it then, Lapis smiled and listened to Pearl moaning right next to her ear. Why was this sound turning Lapis on so quickly? She would like to know.

   She squeezed the nipple between her thumb and forefinger, turning it like if she was changing the volume. What surprised her was that it kind of worked on Pearl that way.

   Feeling pleased with what Lapis heard from her girlfriend so far, she decided to go on. She left those fine buttons be and continued down, along the center of Pearl’s ribcage and belly, but stopped at the pelvis area.

   Pearl was wiggling under her fingers, trembling, and with throat full of whines, yet she was still strong enough to keep them inside.

   Her fingers tickled Pearl. They were gingerly slipping from side to side just above the hem of her underwear, stroking and scratching her the tenderest way possible. Lapis loved this game; little teasing never hurt anybody. But Peal seemed to feel the opposite, and at that her body slowly started to jolt once at a time. However, those jolts became more frequent once Lapis’ fingers reached the cloth of her panties and slowly slid down Pearl’s crotch.

   Again, Lapis leaned over to Pearl, giving her lips a smooch, but then her head lowered to meet her chest. Her lips were slipping across her soft skin, kissing it and biting with her teeth. Her hot, wet tongue brushed over Pearl's stiffened, yet smooth nipple. She tasted it, licked it slowly and affectionately, chewed it and caressed. She kept changing directions, pressure and speed of her tongue as she worked on that nipple.

   Instead of letting out a cry, Pearl instantly cupped her mouth with her hand and shut her eyes, but realized it was more effective like that, so she rather let her eyes open to avoid passing out just yet. This feeling, these sensations were sending her straight to Heaven. That tongue was just so wonderful, fantastic, devine even, making Pearl's head turn backwards.

   Lapis stroked her over the cotton barrier, then again and again until she finally heard Pearl moan full-fledgedly. Carefully Lapis rubbed at her clit, and slowly got used to the rhythm of Pearl’s whines as she began pressing harder against her.

   It was hard for Pearl to hold her hands over her mouth, but where else could she put them when Lapis was already doing her job?

   She then caught Lapis turning her head to her. There was something in her eyes – a question, an act waiting for permission for Lapis to continue, and as a response, Pearl let out a shaky gasp.

   “You’re doing just great.” Lapis spurred and placed a soft kiss onto Pearl’s cheek. Her hand began to move again, but upwards this time, just to cross the line of privacy. Lapis' head dropped at Pearl's chest again, and she continued in the unfinished work.

   Lapis then slipped her digits into the lace-decorated panties. All that Lapis could feel was Pearl’s incredibly smooth, shaved skin. It was forcing her to stroke it, caress it and examine, enjoy it – it was such pleasure to touch that spot. Lapis couldn’t forgive herself for teasing Pearl because of it, but then her fingers slipped lower once again.

   “Mmmhmm-mmm… Ah-hah, Lap… Lapis.” Pearl wiggled, jolting again and letting out a groan. She didn’t want to make these noises, and honestly she wasn’t even aware she could be this loud, until now. It was just happening itself. Pearl really wished that there was no one that could hear them.

   Lapis brushed over the girl's labia fondly, massaging it and stroking, already sensing a bit of wetness in the middle. Briefly she rubbed her clit with the heel of her palm, sensing vibrations of Pearl’s body and her veins pulsing wildly underneath her palm. Still Lapis kept eating those wonderful nipples, sucking and licking, realizing that this was very quick and effective recipe to make Pearl moan.

   It took Lapis a bit of time, and finally she considered that there was enough torturing. She got her middle finger ready and extremely gingerly and carefully she inserted it into Pearl.

   “Mmhm-ah-ahah… Aaah.” Pearl cried out, clinging onto the bed sheets, back arched, her walls tightened.

   Lapis’ finger wandered deeper the second time, and thanks to the wetness, it slipped really finely and smoothly. The more often was her finger sliding upon the walls in and out, the further into Pearl it went, and so intensified the girl's cries.

   Lapis was so careful, so slow and gentle, planting kisses over Pearl’s face and chest to calm her down, but all those senses inside Pearl were too strong even despite this, and yet they grew twice as strong after Lapis added another finger – now Pearl could literally count the stars.

   It was odd feeling, Pearl thought for a while, but yet it was so delightful and so different. This time, those fingers weren’t hers. She couldn’t expect any single movement of them, neither the pressure or speed, and so the more it was arousing her. “Oow, Lapiiis…” She whined, eyes shut.

   “Shh-shh.” Lapis hushed her softly, joining Pearl’s lips and placing one more kiss there. This time Lapis remained connected to her, in case Pearl would let out a cry because of the increasing speed of her fingers. And of course Lapis did the right decision.

   Lapis’ mouth perfectly muffled Pearl’s groan and the one that followed right after as well. She was thrusting into her walls, sensing a surge of wetness coming down at her digits, her palm and out Pearl’s tube. Lapis kept stroking and thrusting, faster and harder until Pearl’s final cries arrived, beginning calling for God and all the saints.

   Pearl grasped Lapis’ hair and pulled her against her chest, squeezing her firmly and letting out the last few moans as the climax of her arousal washed over her. She crossed her long legs then, thereupon Lapis’ hand was forced to slow down and eventually stop. Her fingers stayed stuck between Pearl’s wet walls.

   Series of innocent aftershocks got control over Pearl after that, but she could finally breathe. Slowly her back joined the mattress again and her grip on Lapis weakened.

   Lapis tried to pull her digits out, making her girlfriend shiver for the last time. Lapis sighed and laid her hand onto Pearl's abs.

   The pale-skinned girl inhaled first, then let out an exhale, gathering back all her senses. “… Oow.” She whimpered, but Lapis rather chuckled at that.

   “Are you alright?” She asked, watching Pearl closely.

   Pearl hummed and closed her eyes for a while, pressing her hand against her hot forehead. “… Why does my head hurt?”

   “Your head?” Lapis giggled.

   “Yeah… And well, not just that.” The girl admitted, and despite the light pain up and down, she grinned.

   “Don't worry. It’s gonna pass.” Lapis reassured her kindly and fondly she stroked Pearl’s hair then.

   Pearl smiled, but again started paying attention to the wetness rolling down her skin. She looked up at Lapis, placing her hand onto Lapis’ that was resting on her belly. “Lapis, should I… I mean… Do you want me to–”

   “–On, no, no, Pearl. I’m okay.” She interrupted gently and leaned to Pearl to steal a kiss. But after that response, Pearl rather seemed unhappy with it.

   Lapis cleared her throat, light blush dusted her freckles. “Well… Unless you want to, of course.”

   Something in Pearl’s eyes lit up then, Lapis noticed, and so she let her decide what will happen next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Pearl received a star lamp as a birthday gift  
> • Lapis wore a red night robe  
> • Pearl experienced her first time
> 
> ♦ 12th week (Friday night)


	37. Shorter Days, Longer Nights

   When Pearl woke up, she was turned towards a wall. Her back was bare, but she was snuggling to a soft duvet, pressing it against her chest.

   Slowly she opened her eyes, realizing that she was resting in Lapis’ warm bed. She projected yesterday’s night in front of her eyes and smiled to herself. Her eyes then closed again and she inhaled, letting the homely warm air wake her lungs.

   She nuzzled the pillow under her head, tightening her grip on the duvet. A faint waft of someone’s breath ghosted along her back and shoulder. A familiar arm was wrapped around her waist then. It was Lapis’ hand, Pearl recognized and let her smile get wider. Pearl took Lapis' soft hand and along with the blanket she pressed it against her chest.

   Lapis hummed happily, though a bit tired. She crawled closer to her girlfriend and placed a sweet kiss onto the back of her neck, snuggling to her.

   Light goosebumps ran down Pearl’s spine, though despite this, she wanted one more kiss, and even without asking she got what she wanted almost instantly.

   “Good morning, first timer.” Lapis murmured, leaving another light kiss on the girl’s nape.

   Pearl blushed at the designation, but couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Good morning as well, sweetie.”

   “Did you sleep okay?” The equestrian asked, nuzzling Pearl’s neck and pulling her against her torso with her strong arm.

   Pearl’s breath stuck in her throat for a while, just as she sensed Lapis’ perky breasts pressing at her back. “Y-yeah. More than great.” She admitted. She wanted to turn over and face Lapis, but the press of her chest against her back was way too comfortable to do so. “How about you?”

   “Can’t complain.” She murmured into her nape, sending another wave of chills down Pearl’s spine.

   In the end, Pearl managed to turn around, yet one of the hardest decisions it was. “… You’d better.” She remarked playfully and wiggled her eyebrows, biting her lip with a smirk.

   “What-are you challenging me again?” Lapis wondered aloud, slowly backing Pearl into a corner as she began leaning over her fragile body.

   “Depends.” Pearl grinned and let Lapis imprison her between her tanned arms as she leaned against her elbow on each side of Pearl’s head.

   “Pearl…” Lapis frowned, but a teasing smile played on her lips. She leaned closer and whispered. “… You little devil.”

 

   Deciding what to eat for breakfast was at most difficult, inasmuch as Pearl was full of cake since Wednesday and she didn’t want to see any cake ever again. Though, she appreciated Lapis’ move on that one, so she couldn’t afford to refuse eating the leftovers. It would be a shame to let that delicious cake spoil anyway. After they were full of their meal and cleaned the dishes, Pearl packed all her things and as soon as she was ready, she skipped downstairs and got into Lapis’ car awaiting her arrival.

   Lapis drove Pearl to her place, planted several kisses onto her face while she was unbuckling, and Pearl, thankfully hugging Lapis and repaying her all the kisses she received, said goodbye and wished Lapis safe travel to the stables.

   While calling the elevator, Pearl was crooning a random, slow melody under her breath, imagining the night before today’s morning, holding the star lamp tightly in her arms and tapping her tiptoe against the floor to the rhythm of her song.

   She inserted the key into door lock and then entered her flat. Little Rose was already waiting for her, purring and nuzzling Pearl as soon as she got inside, and as if Rose was any interested in her owner's activities, Pearl began telling her a story about all that happened while she was gone.

 

   Today Lapis decided to practice jumps with Lion, but of course she took care of Blue and let her out to the grazing meadow before starting the training. It took Lapis a while before she finally made Lion accept the fact that there’s no way avoiding the practice.

   Greg arrived to the stable today as well and helped Lapis fixing up the fences to a suitable jumping court and so getting ready for the Grand Prix qualification which was closing in very fast. Peridot didn’t hesitate and put her hand to the plough, too, helping fixing the fences Lapis has knocked down. Eventually she even apologized to Lapis for her behavior back when they argued, and Lapis conceded that what she said herself back then was a bit across the line, too. But now they were okay again.

<•••>

   Another week came by quickly; days were getting shorter, nights became longer and restless. Lapis couldn't find a calm, deep sleep. With every next day she was intensifying her training, sleeping less, and the longer she was standing in the saddle, the more the lack of sleep was taking its roll.

   Pearl was such a priceless support for the whole week and the week after that. When Lapis became way too concentrated and determined, and wasn't planning on leaving the saddle, Pearl immediately intervened and sent Lapis to get some rest as if she was a little kid. Pearl was bringing her food, water, giving Lapis massages, giving her soothing kisses to relieve Lapis from stress and doubts, she was singing her to sleep when it was difficult to her – simply put, she was taking the best care of her champion.

   Lapis felt important, she felt like she was  _someone._ She was extremely grateful for all that Pearl was doing for her, and that certainly had a great, visible influence on her results.

   Eventually the third week was slowly coming to an end and Pearl decided to help Lapis with packing up for the GP week. They agreed on meeting up at Lapis' place on Friday morning. As Pearl arrived by bus, she offered to make snacks for the trip. She also cooked a lunch while Lapis was busy with gathering her things in her room.

   Pearl filled two glasses with fresh water and then began upstairs, opening the door with her bottom while she was holding the glasses. She then placed the glasses onto Lapis' writing desk and flopped down onto her bed. “… Are you nervous?” Pearl asked with a faint smirk on her lips, despite knowing that Lapis was utterly freaking out.

   “Um-quite?” Lapis panted, throwing clothes into her equestrian suitcase; such as breeches, show jacket, white riding shirt, helmet and many other things she needed to fulfill the requirements to compete.

   Today was the day before qualification. Today all the entrants were asked to arrive to the show grounds to settle in, meet up with judges and managers and become acquainted with the whole equestrian area.

   Lapis was so excited, restless, and tensed, darting over her room from side to side and gathering her things. Pearl kindly helped her with fixing all the things Lapis recklessly threw into her luggage, since Pearl obviously didn’t have anything else to do but stare at her bustling girlfriend.

   Lapis rushed to the side wardrobe room and brought in another bag to fill, then stopped in the doorway on her way back. “… Aw, Pearl, you’re such a sweetie. What would I do without you?” She blurted between two gasps as she saw the pale-skinned girl neatly folding a pile of her riding clothes.

   “Just don’t stress.” Pearl said as she started a second pile with Lapis’ red show jacket. “Remember I recommended packing up a day before?” She teased and added a pair of riding gloves onto the pile. Right then Pearl realized how small Lapis’ hands actually were – how cute.

   “Yeah, that’s why I’m stressed out right now… If only I had listened to you.” Lapis regretted and started filling her bag with underclothes, pajamas, hygiene supplies and other personal items for the week.

   Pearl giggled and added the last piece of clothes into the suitcase. She stood up from Lapis’ bed and slowly walked towards her, softly placing her hands onto her hips. “Don’t worry. We’ll manage to pack up everything on time. Just give yourself a little break.” She offered and placed a gentle kiss onto the back of Lapis’ head. Seeing Lapis so stressed the past few days even made Pearl feel unpleasantly herself.

   Lapis sighed, shivering restlessly. “Pearl, we’re leaving within five hours, and I still have to pack up Blue and Lion, and–”

   Pearl had to roll her eyes at the long must-do list that Lapis began dictating her. She then grabbed Lapis’ wrist and turned her towards herself, taking the piece of clothes she was holding in her hand and throwing it somewhere nearby the bag.

   “What are you-Pearl-I-I don’t have time for–” The equestrian protested, but Pearl hushed her.

   “Just slow down, Lapis.” Pearl requested gently. “Calm down for a second… Trust me. Take a deep breath.”

   Lapis sighed and rolled her eyes before she did so, but kept a grin on her lips.

   Pearl held her fondly by her shoulders, watching Lapis’ eyes close. “… And one more.” She asked, feeling a waft of warm breath ghosting upon her slim arms as Lapis calmly breathed out. “… There.” Pearl whispered, astonished that she could feel Lapis’ tensed muscles relax.

   The girl took another deep breath, this time on her own, then smiled sweetly up at Pearl, finally feeling a bit relieved.

   “Come now, just take a brief pause.” Pearl said, leading Lapis towards the bed. “You’ve been pushing too hard on yourself the last week, you deserve a little rest.”

   “Alright, mom.” Lapis chuckled. “… So, what do I do?” She asked with hands put in her pants, standing and watching Pearl as she sat down onto the mattress right next to her bag.

   Pearl leaned back against her palms and shrugged. She wore a daring smirk on her lips, and she couldn't resist to pull her slender legs slightly apart.

   Lapis flushed at that, unable to erase the wide grin that grew on her face. She stepped forward with a snigger. “…You’re right. Maybe I could afford a little distraction.” She murmured and slid Pearl’s knees with her fingertips.

   “You bet I’m right.” She wiggled her brows, then wrapped her arms round Lapis’ neck and tugged her down with herself, sinking into mattress and deep into Lapis’ lips.

   The room fell into silence, only quiet smacks of their lips along with rustling sounds of hands sliding one another’s body could be heard.

   Lapis’ body shivered underneath Pearl’s light touches. She gasped, departing from Pearl for a moment. “You’re such a sweet distraction from responsibilities, you know?” She revealed and bit down at her own lip, grinning.

   Pearl just shrugged at that, smiling back at her. She would like to answer after all, but the press of Lapis’ lips against her neck made Pearl release just a tiny squeak. Lapis then brought up her hand and removed Pearl’s collar from her throat, kissing it ever so tenderly and continuing upper, biting down at her ear and jaw line.

   “You do have a thing for biting, don’t you?” Pearl giggled, humming at the light kiss Lapis placed onto her neck.

   “Maybeee.” Her dark brow rose. She planted another kiss onto Pearl’s skin. “I love the way it makes you wiggle.”

   “Ah, I can’t help it. It tickles.” Pearl justified.

   “Mm, does it?” Lapis sent Pearl an evil grin, and Pearl instantly knew what she was about to do.

   “… Is there any possible way to back out of this?” Pearl tried, although she knew there wasn’t.

   Lapis bit her lip and slowly shook her head, swallowing Pearl just with her sharp eyes as she was leaning over to her.

<•••>

   Once Lapis gathered everything she needed, they arrived to Pearl’s place, so she could pack her things and get ready for the trip as well. Packing up took Pearl visibly less time, because most of the things she’s already placed into her bag the day before.

   “I’m so glad you’re coming with us, Pearl.” Lapis smiled and loaded Pearl’s luggage into her Kodiaq’s trunk once she was prepared.

   “Well, I can’t miss such an event, can I?” Pearl shrugged and closed the trunk door. She followed Lapis and got aboard, placing a travel cage with Rose within it into her lap and buckling up, ready to hit the road.

   On their way to the stable, they stopped by Garnet’s place and handed Rose over to her. Garnet offered Pearl to take care of her cat while she’s gone. She also mentioned that Steven, her new kitten, will at least have someone to play with. Garnet was so excited about it herself and promised Pearl that she’ll take as much photos of them as possible.

   Before they left, Garnet wished them safe travel and especially good luck to Lapis, then they shared a few hugs and finally headed to the stable to prepare the horses.

 

   Greg and the team were already there, awaiting Lapis and getting things in order. Pearl had to bite hard at her lip once she came in contact with the older man. Eventually they greeted each other, but that was all. Pearl knew it was rude from her, but she then pretended as if he wasn’t there. She rather stood aside from the group of people and silently watched.

   Nearby the group of four people, there was a big masculine woman, Pearl noticed. Her skin was tanned and tattooed, and her hair was tangled in rainbow dreadlocks. She was standing next to a tall red roan horse, holding its foot and fixing it a new horseshoe.

   Pearl swallowed at the amount of muscles she saw. She even found herself blushing while watching the way those muscles were moving as the woman was nailing the horseshoe to the horse’s hoof with a hammer.

   She had to shake her head. Pearl decided not to pay too much attention to that woman, though it was hard to look elsewhere than her strong arms, yet even when she looked away, she could still see flashes of them in her mind. ' _Damnit, stop watching her… What would Lapis think of you? What would she–_ '

   “–Hey, Bismuth.” Pearl could suddenly hear a familiar voice. It was Lapis', and she was talking to that woman, offering her a fist.

   “Greetings, champion.” The farrier said and bumped into Lapis’ fist with her own. She then shot Pearl a quick look, then turned her head back to her blue-haired friend. “Who’s that little bird over there?” She asked, but so that Pearl couldn’t hear.

   Lapis also briefly looked at Pearl; her little blush then tugged a smile on her freckled face. “That’s… My girlfriend.” Lapis said proudly, folding her arms on her chest.

   “Pff-what?” The woman sputtered with a brief laughter and continued battering the nails. “Such a cutie? Can’t be.”

   “Trust me, she is.” Lapis' brows raised, just as her chin.

   The farrier chuckled and dropped the horse’s foot down, then picked another one and began rasping the hoof. “Then you wouldn't mind introducing us sometime, would ya?”

   “So you could steal her from me, sure.” Lapis snorted, rolling her eyes.

   “Ah please, you know I’m not like that.” Bismuth shook her head and started fitting a new horseshoe. She cleared her throat. “By the way, Priyanka was looking for you.”

   “Oh? Do you know what she wanted?” The blue-haired girl asked, putting hands into her pants, glancing round the hall to possibly find her.

   “Nah. All that she said… Was that you can… Find her in Rain’s stall.” The woman revealed, focused on nailing the horseshoe.

   All of a sudden, Lapis gasped excitedly, her eyes started to sparkle as she remembered something. “Have Rain…?”

   The big woman chuckled. She guessed what Lapis got excited about. “Not yet, but she’s close.” She smiled, beckoning towards the mentioned horse’s stall. “But who knows? You can go and check.”

   “Sure.” Lapis grinned, full of hope and excitement. She then darted over to Pearl and grabbed her by her thin wrist.

   Yet before the girl could notice it, Lapis was leading her to the other side of the hall.

   “Lapis? Where-where are we going?” Pearl gasped, almost unable to keep up with her, realizing that the big woman was watching while Lapis was dragging Pearl begind herself.

   “I wanna show you something.” Lapis proclaimed, and once they arrived to Rainbow’s stall, the one across Blue's, Lapis found an open gate and peered inside, just to find their veterinarian manipulating with a dapple gray mare inside the stall box.

    “Hey, Priyanka.” The girl greeted and quietly entered the room, letting go of Pearl who just stuck in the doorway.

   “Oh, Lapis, there you are.” The vet straightened and gave Lapis a faint smile. She was a middle-aged Indian woman, wearing a medical coat, with a stethoscope tossed over her neck. After a moment the woman noticed Pearl nervously stepping on a spot, thereupon Lapis immediately intervened.

   “Umm, Priyanka, this is Pearl, my… Great friend.” Lapis rather said, unsure whether she should reveal what exactly was between them or not. She hoped Pearl didn’t mind this designation. “… Pearl, this is Dr. Maheswaran, our vet.”

   Pearl swallowed just as the woman’s dark, impenetrable eyes began scanning her, but despite her steely-cold gaze, her voice turned out to be quite warm as she spoke directly to her.

   “Nice to meet you, Pearl.” The vet offered her a hand. It took Pearl a moment to accept it, because the woman was deep in the stall and Pearl’s never been in a stall with a horse – except for Blue. However, she realized that this horse was way smaller than Blue; this time Pearl could actually see the horse’s back entirely. The animal also seemed a bit less dangerous to her than the other horses in the stable, and for Pearl’s surprise, she wasn’t even as scared as she usually was next to an unknown horse. The mare seemed calm and peaceful.

   Eventually Pearl took a deep breath and entered the stall as well, giving the woman her hand and shaking it. “You, too, Mrs. Maheswaran.” She blushed, yet the rest of the uncertainty deep inside her didn’t allow her to stay near the horse for too long, and so she had to step back after a moment.

   “It’s Priyanka for you.” The woman chuckled, making Pearl blush yet more.

   “Man, I hoped that she’s already foaled.” Lapis suddenly spoke, stepping closer to the mare and addressing her calmly. Slowly, carefully she stroked her side, hoping for sensing any movements in her belly.

   ‘ _Is the horse… Pregnant?_ ’ Pearl’s eyes turned wider. Just now she noticed the actual size of the mare’s belly. There was a new life, a new little horse that is about to see this beautiful world. All of a sudden Pearl couldn’t help but let tears well up in her eyes. She became so happy; happy for the mother, for Lapis and all the people from here.

   “Not yet, but it’s going to be very soon.” Priyanka smiled, stroking the animal's long nose.

   “Pearl, come here.” Lapis whispered, quite ignoring the veterinarian’s words, and offered Pearl her hand.

   Pearl hesitated, but in the end she walked further into the stall and stopped next to her girlfriend.

   “Give me your hand.” Lapis asked gently, and Pearl did as she was told.

   Carefully, Lapis took her cold, trembling hand and placed it onto the horse’s side, holding it there. “… Can you feel it?” Lapis glanced over at her, she couldn’t hold back a grin.

   Pearl closed her eyes and tried to focus on the mare’s warm skin. She could sense veins pulsing and drumming against her palm, she could feel the mare’s heart beat, and yet something that was faintly moving inside her. “… Yeah, I can… Feel it. I can feel movements.” She chuckled, cupping her mouth with her other hand, feeling a tear wetting her cheek. She wasn’t able to make out why she got so emotional at that moment – it was just a foal! But… Still it was a new life growing there.

   Later on, in the middle of a silence, the veterinarian cleared her throat and broke the harmonical moment. “Also, Lapis…” She started. “I need to check on something in Blue’s documents before we go. Could you bring them to me, please?”

   “… You don’t have them?” Lapis slightly panicked, her hand froze on Pearl’s.

   “I checked twice, but I couldn’t find them.” She frowned worriedly.

   “Well, that’s a problem.” Lapis hissed in nervously, running her hand through her hair and thinking where the documents could be. “I’ll check on them right away.”

   “You better, or we’re not going anywhere.” The vet joked, though it rather turned Lapis’ smile upside down.

   ‘ _I… Honestly wish we’re not_.’ Lapis swallowed and rather immediately left the stall to find the documents. Pearl followed her, yet gave the mother horse one last look before she did. She smiled and went after Lapis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter recapitulation:**
> 
> • Lapis was packing up for the GP week  
> • Dr. Maheswaran appeared in the stable  
> • Bismuth was fixing Lion new horseshoes  
> • Lapis showed Pearl their pregnant mare
> 
> ♦ 12th–16th week
> 
>  **PS:** Hey, guys! It's been a while since I posted a new chapter. I'm really sorry, but I'm kind of in a strange, melancholic mood recently and my mind is somewhere else than it should be. However, I try to write whenever I can, so stay tuned for the last two chapters + epilogue! ;) Thank you for your support, peeps! It means a lot to me. :) ♥ Have a nice day!


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